By Kris Kindelsperger

It has struck me how many times we have begun work with non profit clients only to find that their list of “top donors” is populated with prospects for which they know very little.  The “Top 50″ or “Top 100″ turns out to contain more “suspects” than prospects.

If you believe that major gift fundraising is about building relationships, engaging donors with your organization, and bonding prospects to your cause, then watch for these telltale signs that you may not be pointed in the right relational direction.  Do you find yourself saying any of the following about your prospects?

1.  “Mrs. Jones is a close friend of one of our board members.”  Yes, but will this friendship translate into a potential relationship with your organization and is the board member willing to broker the relationship on your behalf? 

2.  “Our president/CEO/ED met with Mr. Smith just last year.”  Fine, but a year is a long time.  What has happened in the meantime?  Was there any follow up contact or have you dropped the relationship ball?

3.  “I see the Johnsons in attendance at our events all the time.“  A good sign, but does anyone from the development team engage them or are they simply attendees?

4.  “We’ve heard that Mr. Smith’s business is doing very well. ” Better than hearing that the business is doing poorly, but do you have any specific knowledge to back this up?  Have you done in-depth donor research on the individual or peer screening that would match the observation with potential support for your organization?

5.  “Mrs. Simpson has been a loyal $1,000 donor for more than ten years.”  Loyalty is great, but has anyone taken the time to personally cultivate this prospect and determined if there is greater potential than the same give year after year?

These are all telltale signs of under-cultivation, but this is not an exhaustive list.  What are the signs you look for that tell you that you should be doing more to cultivate your prospects?

by Kris Kindelsperger

In our discussions with donors and clients in recent months, we’ve observed that some donors are, for lack of a better word – paralyzed – by uncertainty. 

Some are looking for more reliability in the markets, some are looking to the November elections for guidance on economic policy, others are looking at January 1, 2011, wondering what the tax structure will be like. 

Adding to this anxious mix is a flood of conflicting advice obtained through personal research or from those that may be advising them about what might happen in the months to come.

The instinctive reaction for some is to preserve personal resources and avoid – or postpone -philanthropy.  For gift officers this often comes with the message “now is not a good time to make a major gift.”

While those who represent our nonprofit organizations are not financial advisors or financial planners, thoughtful discussion with donors can open opportunities to devise strategies that meet donors’ needs and allay concerns.

Philanthropy is frequently a “win-win” financial situation for both the non-profit and the donor if both can have a frank and open discussion about the outcomes. A carefully planned gift can benefit a donor who is worried about their taxes.  Non profits also offer a number of very attractive income producing financial instruments in today’s market.

So, in these uncertain times, now is a perfect time to move beyond the confines of simple gift discussions and to have conversations with donors about how philanthropy might bring a level of certainty to an uncertain world.  Non profits are in a unique position to have these discussions.

Are there ways that your organization is productively engaging donors in an uncertain world?

by Angela E. White

Want to know what 15,000 donors said could influence them to be more generous in 2010 than they had originally planned?

Want to know how these donors are feeling about the recession and its impact on their philanthropy?

Want to know if direct mail campaigns are dead?

These are just a few of the questions addressed in the latest research released by Penelope Burk, President of Cygnus Applied Research, Inc., in her new study The Cygnus Donor Survey … Where Philanthropy is Headed in 2010.  

You can review an executive summary and purchase the full report at http://www.cygresearch.com/.  As always, Penelope provides us with very interesting and helpful information to set the stage for our work.

For example, her research shows that the impact of the recession on philanthropy seems to be moderating; however, among the top 10% of select donors, 17% said that they would give less in 2010.

We know that a decrease in giving from our most generous donors has a large impact on our overall fundraising success and thus may indicate that we will not see our total giving bounce back right away.

Now that we are 7 months through the year, how do your philanthropic results compare to last year? Review Penelope Burk’s latest research and see how you compare to national donor trends.

Learn something interesting in the study? Discuss it with Angela and others by posting in the JGA comments section.

JGA takes an authentic, strategic approach to philanthropic consulting. Our experienced fundraising consultants are committed partners to a variety of organizations, primarily private schools and colleges, arts and cultural organizations, and large community/social service organizations.

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