goal setting and methods

GOALAND METHODS

 

Mr. Iacocca says that he simply won’t go to luncheons anymore unless the organizers guarantee him a donation to his Statue Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation of at least $1 million (plus, one presumes, complimentary meal with choice of beverage).

 

“I give a little speech, show a film, and then I put the hammer on ‘em,” he explains, puffing on a cigar in his Chrysler office in the Pan Am Building while telling how he and the private foundation he heads have raised more than $233 million to restore the statue and the crumbling buildings of Ellis Island.

”They can come in here, too,” he continues, waving the cigar, “and have their picture taken with me for a hundred thousand.”

-From The New York Times Magazine, May 18, 1986

 

Now there’s someone who understands the power of “Show Me” fund-raising !

The Times further states that Iacocca’s campaign “is credited… with having raised more money in a shorter period of time than any private fund-raising campaign before.”

 

What ?  You say no one wants to pay $100,000 to have their picture taken with you?

 

Don’t despair.  What makes for Mr. Iacocca’s success is no different from what can lead to your success in the fund raising arena: a clear understanding of your goal, a commitment to it, and a method to reach it that offers your potential donors something they value.

 

Setting Goals

As with any project, the first step in launching a fund-raising campaign is setting a goal.  To start, it helps to pinpoint the particular needs and resources of your organization needs that will become goals and resources that will help you achieve them. Schedule time at a meeting of your board or staff or finance or development committee to work this out.

 

Mellon Bank’s booklet Discover Total Resources strongly suggests conducting an annual self-examination to “determine who and what you are, where you want to be, and what you need to get her.”  Following is a reprint of their check list for evaluating your organization:

 

State your purpose in two or three sentences

List major accomplishments.

What community need do you serve?

Whom do you serve(include age, sex, race, income level, etc)?

What services do you provide?

Who delivers your services (paid staff, volunteers)?

List strengths and weaknesses in each service area.

What other organizations (profit or nonprofit) provide the same services?

What is your performance rating compared to other providers?

What are your short-and long-term goals?

Are they consistent with your purpose and services?

Where your goals developed with input from:

             Board?                                                                   Staff?

             Consumer?                                              Volunteers?

             Contributors                                             External consultants?

             Members?       

 

Do you have an annual action plan, which includes:

             Program objectives for each service ?

             Performance schedule?

Will your goals require a change in:

             Number/type of persons served?          Financial support?

Services?                                                 Volunteer support?

Staff?                                                        Others?

 

What internal and external factor(s) could have a positive impact on your ability to achieve your goals?

What factors could have a negative impact?

What are your funding sources?

             Memberships?                                        Business corporations?

             Service Fees?                                         Foundations?

             Income-generating activities?                Government?

             Individual donors?                                   Religious organizations?

             Federated campaigns                            Others?

 

What non-cash support do you receive?

             Volunteers?                                              Services?

             Goods?                                                    Others?

 

After you’ve taken a good, honest, and thorough look at your organization(or your idea for an organization or project), concentrate on your immediate needs and identify specific goals:

1.      Know your basic need.

2.      Make a list of all the thing you need to meet that basic need and set priorities, letting necessity dictate their order.  You now have a list of your goals in the order you hope to accomplish them.

3.      Rework each goal into clear, simple, step-by-step sub goals.

 

Now that you’ve set your project goals, you need to determine your financial goals.  What will everything cost?  Set down a range of low end and high end figures.  It will give you more flexibility in your planning and greater ease in adjusting your budget, if necessary, as you go along.

 

Selecting Methods

 

There are many, many ways of achieving any fund-raising goal, some more effective in certain situations than others.  Now that you’ve done the work to determine your needs and set your project and financial goals, you must devote equal attention to deciding how to reach these goals.  Now comes the time to deal with what I think is the most interesting aspect of the “Show Me” approach to fund-raising: How do I select the “Show Me” method that will work best for my organization to reach this particular goal at this particular time with these particular donors?

 

What methods could you use?  “Show Me” methodology knows no boundaries.  The only guideline to go by when creating a “Show Me” technique is to make sure you are offering the potential donor something for his dollar, something he finds of value personally in some way.  You must know your audience (your potential donors) well.  Yet another barbecue may not have enough appeal in Schenectady but may seem very exotic and alluring to Manhattanites longing for a taste of the country.

 

The range of “Show Me” activities runs from the very simple through the elaborately detailed.  The varieties of technique are literally as limitless as the resources of your organization’s collective imagination.  Later in the chapter, I will describe a couple of dozen successful “Show Me” techniques, but first let’s examine how to go about selecting one.

 

There is no magic formula for choosing the fund-raising method that best suits your needs.  Trial-and-error is the great teacher, but of little benefit as you start your fund-raising career.  Much of the creativity in planning a fund-raising event or drive comes in deciding which method you’ll use.  As you read this book, as you read the newspapers, as you talk to your volunteers and gather ideas, there will be two or three ideas that strike you as interesting or crazy but-hopefully-promising.  There you have the basis of your own fun에-raising drive.  Absolute success just cannot be guaranteed.  You can’t open this book or any book and find the perfect approach to raising money for your particular need.  But we can work within a process that will go a long way toward tipping the odds in our favor.  Let’s work through this process, using a sample project asd our model.

 

Step one :  Conduct an internal examination of your organization’s financial resources.

 

Let’s say your goal is to help the youth of your community.  You analyze the situation and decide that there is a need for youth to have some structured leisure-time activity available to them during the winter months.  Your project goal is to build an ice skating rink.  You need $5,500 to carry out this project, and hope to get contributions from a variety of sources.  (It is always best to combine individual support with some contributions from local business or government.  That way you never become too dependent upon any one source-an obvious disaster in the event that one pulls out.  Also individuals are more likely to give if the project has been endorsed by some larger, established sources.)  Analyze your available resources to come up with your financial goal for the project::

$5,500  =  total project cost -2,000  =  contribution promised ($1,000 from city council; $1,000 from rink construction company) $3,500  =  financial goal (to be raised from individuals)

Draw up a simple budget fro this project that includes the cost of the project itself and also a figure for the expenses you will incur as you go about raising this money.  How much should you allot for these fund-raising expenses?  A rule of thumb is never to spend more than 20 percent of your financial goal for the project to raise the money.  In the case of the ice skating rink, which has project goal of $3,500, 20 percent for your expenses would be $700.  It’s wise to keep your expense budget as low as possible, so let’s say you’re going to budget $500 for fund-raising expenses.

Now there’s a lot you can do with $500, and at the same time there is a lot you can’t do with $500.  You are not going to throw a black-tie dinner at a fancy hotel for $500, but you could do a mailing to a list of potential donors.  You won’t e able to produce a five-color brochure on the project for $500, but you could produce a very effective fund-raising letter with supporting documents.  You won’t be able to raffle off a new Cadillac for $500, but you might well throw a simple “Let’s Build an Ice Skating Rink” day on the site of the proposed rink.

 

Step Two:  Conduct an internal examination of your organization’s social resources.

After all of the alternatives have been set out and you’ve narrowed down the list of fund-raising techniques in terms of your financial resources, look at your social resources as well.

 

l       What type of contacts do our staff and board members have?

l       What local celebrities can we call upon to add a touch of glamour?

l       How many people can we mobilize to work on this project and what are their skill?

l       What kind of media attention can we count on to publicize our efforts?

 

After adding up the financial and people resources available, you’ll have a much clearer idea of what type of technique your organization can comfortably utilize to raise funds.

 

Step Three:  Analyze and develop (i.e., cultivate) your audience.  Now you must focus your attention on the audience for this technique, your potential donors.  First, it’s essential to identify your constituency-know who your current friends are and who your additional friends should be.  It is time to make your shopping or prospect list.

 

Whom are you going to approach for funds in your drive?  Who are the most likely candidates to lend support to the community by providing a place for its youth to skate?  Developing a shopping list is your final step before actual fund-raising begins.

 

Although I cannot overemphasize the importance of the shopping list, it is the most often ignored part of the fund-0raising process.  Whether your goal is as simple as building an ice skating rink or as complex as setting up a nationwide school lunch program, you must start with a shopping list.

 

The first specific task to give to your volunteer committee (which we’ll discuss further in the next chapter) is developing the shopping list. Everyone I(including yourself) should participate by making a list of friends, family, and acquaintances who, either as individuals or in connection with business, may lend support to your project.

 

If six of you come up with ten names apiece, you’ll have a good start on your shopping list, which will be your primary list.  Make up a prospect card for each of these names that looks something like the following.

 

Same Prospect Card

Name:__________________________________________________________________________ Address:________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________  Zip: _______________________ Phone: (day)___________________________________(eve.)____________________________ Any business/foundation affiliations:______________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ Recommend by :__________________________________________________________________

 

Once you have the primary list completed, develop a secondary list,.  Again, using your volunteers, discuss what people and business should be concerned about the youth in your community.  This secondary list should be composed of people or small businesses who would logically share your interest in achieving your goal of building a new ice skating rink.  It might include;

l       Stores that sell sporting goods in your area.

l       Local politicians. (Considering your goal, it would be difficult for any political leader not to lend support)

l       Any local sports celebrities or former sports stars.

l       Prominent educators. (Superintendent of schools, school board members, and so on.)

l       Doctors, dentists, lawyers, and other professionals who should be concerned about the youth of the community.

l       Restaurants and other refreshment merchandisers in the area where the rink is to be constructed.

l       Banks. (Usually concerned not only with the local community but with any and all construction within it)

l       Companies that would be approached to work on the rink construction. (See if any would consider giving you a “break” up-front in the fee that could be described as a leadership in-kind gift-see Appendix A, paged 165-77.)

 

The same type of prospect card (minus the “Recommended by” line) should be made up for each name on this secondary list.  Make sure all the information (current address, phone, business title) on each card is correct.  Be sure to update these cards if necessary when using them in the future.

 

If you come up with another forty names on this secondary list, added to those on your primary list, you suddenly have a good basis for a fund-raising drive of this size.  With 100 prospects-more than half of whom you have direct contact with, which will be helpful later in follow-up-and a goal of $3,500, your individual goal for each prospect is now down to less than $40.  In this day and age, that’s the cost of a dinner out for two (or in New York City, for one).  If you have drawn up a shopping list that is “solid” (composed of people with a real interst in your concerns and with this amount of money to spend), your goal should be very achievable. 

 

Next, work out with your volunteer committee how best to use these primary and secondary donor lists to reach a final decision on the choice of “Show Me” method.  Conduct a feasibility study by having your committee provide answers to questions like the following:

 

l       How much can most of the people on the primary list afford?  Believe

me, Mr. Iacocca knew exactly whom he was talking to when he put out his $1 million per lunch ultimatum.)   If your committee members aren’t sure that these friends and acquaintances can each come up with a $35 donation, you know you have a problem and need to adjust your plans accordingly.  You may decide to alter your expense budget or get more names for your shopping list.

l       What will they respond to best?  A letter in the mail followed by a phone call from someone they know?  A visit as part of a door-to-door campaign?  A partly at the proposed site of the ice skating rink?  Do they like to come to events outside their homes?  Does it need to be something out of the ordinary?

l       How much have they already given to the organization?

l       Do they like to see their names on things (such as placques on theater seats and hospital ward doors)?  In print?  If you decide to do some kind of special event, these questions should help you focus your choices:

l       What types of events do they enjoy?

l       What time of day is most convenient for them to attend?  Day of week? Season?

l       How much do they usually pay for entertainment?

 

Timing can be as crucial as the type of fund-raising plan you devise:

l       What sort of timetable is best for this drive?  Is it too close to Christmas?  (Do most of these people have families that will require lots of 3xtra gift expenses?)  Is it too far away from Christmas?  (If they don’t have large families, would they respond well in a Christmas spirit?)  Is it too near April 15 (tax time)?  Can it be positioned as a last-minutes tax deduction?  Is it too near summer vacation time?  Is it too near the drive that was held to build a new kiddie swimming pool to replace the one that was ruined in the big storm last summer? And finally, don’t forget to look at the competition.  Be sure to explore the other pulls on your prospects’ purse strings:

l       What projects have similar-sized organizations been successful with in the past?

l       Has there been a proliferation of certain types of projects lately which would impede your success?

l       What have other organizations planned for the same time period?

 

Now that you’ve completed an examination of your resources-financial and social-and know who your audience is, you will be able to choose the project with the most fund-raising potential for your organization.

 

Developing a Corporate Shopping

 

1.        Have each member of your board, staff, and volunteer pool make a list of any close friends and/or family members that work for a corporation.

2.        Make a list of places you do business with (personally and professionally).  Everyone in our world can list at least twenty-five such businesses.

3.        Keep a running list of corporations that have shown an interest in a cause or activity similar to yours.  (Where have they given money before?  Which ones have funded organizations similar to yours?  Which have expressed an interest in the type of work your organization does?)  Answers to these questions can be found through researching the standard library fund-raising references and through an ongoing study of the media.

 

Your best bets will be local sources.  Work within the parameters of your area.  If fast-food restaurants and mom-and-pop stores are the main businesses in your community, it’s probably a waste of time to seek $10,000 in corporate underwriting.  Remember the value of in-kind contributions of goods and services. Try to be as creative as possible when approaching local businesses so that you can help them fulfill your needs in a manner that is consistent with their business practices and financial realities.

 

If you live in a rural area that doesn’t have many companies interested in giving to nonprofit groups and if your volunteers can’t come up with any suggestions, in short if you don’t have much of a corporate shopping list, try listening to the radio for a few nights.  Tune to your public radio station to find out who is sponsoring their programming.  Chances are good that any of the ten to thirty companies listed on a given night will be approachable by your group as well.

 

Corporate directories are another important source of valuable information.  The three listed below profile the nation’s top corporations and include such information as contacts’ names and phone numbers, giving policy statements, geographical funding areas, and the type of giving they have done in the past.  These directories keep their information updated and can be a good jumping off point for the solicitation of corporate underwriting, as well as grants.