Published March 18, 2018

Success is Not Haphazard

I find Successful Fund Raising to be one of the most helpful newsletters in our field. It’s like a soup bowl filled to the brim and overflowing with practical bits and pieces you can put to immediate use.

In a recent issue, they listed 10 ways to help you make those calls that generate the gift.

I’ve come up with six of the group of ten I feel are particularly helpful. I tweaked the language a bit.

1. Set one day a week aside to do nothing but schedule a minimum number of visits— regardless of when they are to take place.
2. Determine the number of days you plan to be scheduled out of the office and making calls. It should be a minimum of fifteen a month. Many more days if possible. Stick to the schedule!
3. Be open to early morning and after-work appointments that still allow you to attend to office demands.
4. Create a year-long cultivation/stewardship/solicitation schedule for all your probable major gift donors.
5. Design a staff competition (that includes your CEO) for the most completed visits each week, month, and year. The competition is based on your objectives for each of those periods.
6. Meet weekly with staff. Develop a reporting system to review attempted appointments, confirmed appointments, and completed calls.