Getting Personal With Your Fundraising

When I look back at the fundraising I did throughout my amateur athletic career, I recall the effort I put into designing a great portfolio with a cover letter that I sent out to large corporations. That portfolio would be mailed out to some executive with the hope I would catch an organization looking to make a contribution to my fundraising goals.

Let's examine that fundraising method by taking a close look at how YOU allocate your personal donations to various causes. If you receive a piece of mail that describes a cause and what your donation can do, how willing are you to just up and scrawl a check for $1,000? How about $100? Even $10? That's exactly my point - you have no personal connection to that cause, and therefore you can't justify donating your hard earned money for fundraising.

Take a look at where your own donations go to and chances are you have some connection with that organization's goals. For example, your kids may have gone to summer camp at the same place for seven summers and they have nothing but fond memories. If that summer camp is fundraising for the upcoming camp year, you might be more inclined to donate because you have a personal connection to the cause.

I want to underscore the importance of developing personal relationships with your potential supporters. I would never have been able to raise $50,000 every year for 6 years without devoting time to personalizing the relationships I built with potential sponsors. It doesn't take much, either. Here are a few quick tips to make your sponsor relationships more personal:

"Stay in contact - Keep an e-mail list of people who have donated or have shown interest in donating. Update them on news from your organization or events that you are planning. Keeping people close to you on your organization's journey to meet a certain goal is going to pay dividends in the long run.

"Face to face - When the opportunity arises during your fundraising event, you need to take the time to meet with the people who are supporting your organization. Devoting even three or four minutes to thank them for coming and to inform them personally of where their money is helping and how passionate you are about the direction of the organization is important to securing future funding.

"Thank you's - After every event or after a donation of any kind, you need to make an effort to thank those who have taken an interest in your organization. You can destroy all of the good work you have done in building a fundraising relationship by failing to acknowledge the kind support of a sponsor or donor.

These are basic ideas of how you can maintain a minimum amount of contact throughout the calendar year. An impersonal organization that has little contact with his or her potential supporters is going to come up short time and time again when fundraising. Part of your fundraising plan - especially if you are a small organization with a low profile - should include making personal contact a priority. Take this step, and you will see an immediate jump in your fundraising success.