TaperPin
WKR
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2023
- Messages
- 3,582
There are three kinds of donors - businesses looking for new clients that might like your cause, businesses with existing clients who already like your cause, finally generous people who already like your cause. It’s good to not confuse the three.
Generous people simply need to be asked once and they are on board to help in many ways.
Someone who is looking for new clients, say a new saw shop that wants to reach moderate to heavy users of trimmers and saws, home inspection guy, or whatnot, is only doing it if it provides a return, or it at least feels like a break even for him.
Companies that rely on word of mouth can benefit if there are a lot of guys who will hear the praises of what a great supporter the saw shop is, the saw shop actually does good work, and they get just one new client. Encourage people to say they heard about the company at your event.
Other companies rely heavily on advertising spending and word of mouth not so much - guys that often have tv ads or are in print, or have park benches with their name on it, will spend money if it makes them money, and will only try it once if it doesn’t pay off, or at least feel like it broke even. Hard nut to crack, but better than asking companies without any contact with the public.
A secret weapon is finding companies that will donate as a favor to one or more commercial clients in your membership. Squeezing vendors is common everywhere, you just have to learn the ropes. If a member manages a big warehouse, you might ask if they know any vendors that might be willing to donate something. It doesn’t cost the manager anything, and vendors will often bend over backwards when they heard where you got their name. Of course it’s even better if the manager will ask them directly, so don’t be afraid to ask. Don’t name drop anyone you haven’t asked permission from in advance. Even stuffy corporations allow sales people a certain amount for things like this that they simply have to justify as being for a client or potential client. Again, it’s better if a member asks directly.
If there is a separate person selling tickets and they are good at getting supporters to buy entire tables or blocks of tickets, keep in close communication - you might have a hot lead that’s glad to donate an item and would be an easy one to buy an entire table so they can send clients who wouldn’t usually get tickets, and visa versa.
This is very much a one-two punch, but if you have permission to also sell tickets, there will be situations where business to business sales people want to get time and attention with a client and might buy a ticket to attend as well as an item to donate. They may not give two schitts about turkeys, but will drop $500 just to be in the same room with someone and donate as a favor for that person - this type of donor benefits from you thanking them in the presence of the person they are smoozing.
You’ll quickly learn the higher up the food chain you can go in each company to reach actual decision makers, the easier it is. People are naturally generous, it’s often a matter of finding a way to connect.
It’s a cool thing to volunteer for, and if you enjoy it, professionals that work on donations full time can make good money with big non profits. There’s a lot to learn, so don’t feel bad if it feels like swimming up stream this year. Every year it will get easier. Good luck.
Generous people simply need to be asked once and they are on board to help in many ways.
Someone who is looking for new clients, say a new saw shop that wants to reach moderate to heavy users of trimmers and saws, home inspection guy, or whatnot, is only doing it if it provides a return, or it at least feels like a break even for him.
Companies that rely on word of mouth can benefit if there are a lot of guys who will hear the praises of what a great supporter the saw shop is, the saw shop actually does good work, and they get just one new client. Encourage people to say they heard about the company at your event.
Other companies rely heavily on advertising spending and word of mouth not so much - guys that often have tv ads or are in print, or have park benches with their name on it, will spend money if it makes them money, and will only try it once if it doesn’t pay off, or at least feel like it broke even. Hard nut to crack, but better than asking companies without any contact with the public.
A secret weapon is finding companies that will donate as a favor to one or more commercial clients in your membership. Squeezing vendors is common everywhere, you just have to learn the ropes. If a member manages a big warehouse, you might ask if they know any vendors that might be willing to donate something. It doesn’t cost the manager anything, and vendors will often bend over backwards when they heard where you got their name. Of course it’s even better if the manager will ask them directly, so don’t be afraid to ask. Don’t name drop anyone you haven’t asked permission from in advance. Even stuffy corporations allow sales people a certain amount for things like this that they simply have to justify as being for a client or potential client. Again, it’s better if a member asks directly.
If there is a separate person selling tickets and they are good at getting supporters to buy entire tables or blocks of tickets, keep in close communication - you might have a hot lead that’s glad to donate an item and would be an easy one to buy an entire table so they can send clients who wouldn’t usually get tickets, and visa versa.
This is very much a one-two punch, but if you have permission to also sell tickets, there will be situations where business to business sales people want to get time and attention with a client and might buy a ticket to attend as well as an item to donate. They may not give two schitts about turkeys, but will drop $500 just to be in the same room with someone and donate as a favor for that person - this type of donor benefits from you thanking them in the presence of the person they are smoozing.
You’ll quickly learn the higher up the food chain you can go in each company to reach actual decision makers, the easier it is. People are naturally generous, it’s often a matter of finding a way to connect.
It’s a cool thing to volunteer for, and if you enjoy it, professionals that work on donations full time can make good money with big non profits. There’s a lot to learn, so don’t feel bad if it feels like swimming up stream this year. Every year it will get easier. Good luck.
