Tag Archives: economy

Solicitation Approach for Distressed Donors

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[Jan 2011 E-Newsletter Article]
I recently had the opportunity to meet up with Suzanne Nixon, State Director of Development for Devereux in Florida. We had such an interesting conversation that I asked her if I could share some of it with Aspire Research Group readers. Wouldn’t you know it, she said yes. Thanks Suzanne!

ARG: You have a lot of small and family business owners and other donors who have suffered with shrinking income and assets. Have you changed your solicitation approach with these donors?

Nixon: Yes, and I can give you an example. Some of Devereux Florida’s best and most passionate donors have found themselves struggling to meet their own and their peers’ expectations of giving. Thankfully, fundraising is not accounting so I have been able to help some of our donors reach a desired giving level by “stacking” their gift. One donor was able to make a gift by adding together several resources. She included a smaller than typical personal gift, adding that to one from her business and a third one from her family foundation. I was able to recognize her gift under the combined amount, which put her in a much higher giving level than any one of those gifts alone.

ARG: When do you use prospect research? 

Nixon: We are in a campaign to build a gymnasium and after my campaign cabinet has a brainstorming session I request a solicitation profile on the top four or five prospects that have surfaced. These are prospects my cabinet members already know, or know someone who knows them. Getting a solicitation profile at the identification stage makes sense for me because I have so little time. I need to know right away whether the prospect is philanthropic and what size gift might be possible. The solicitation profile gives me all the information I need to plan a strategy for cultivation or to disqualify early. When I’m ready to solicit for a gift I just ask for a profile update.

About Devereux:

The Devereux Foundation helps empower children and adults with intellectual, emotional, developmental, and behavioral challenges to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives. Devereux is a nationwide organization, headquartered in southeast Pennsylvania, positively impacting the lives of tens of thousands of individuals and families each year.

Devereux Florida operates nearly 50 programs in 38 counties statewide and is the largest non-profit provider of these services in the state of Florida. In 2012, we will celebrate 100 successful years nationally and 25 years of service in Florida.

Someone is Always Making Money

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As Florida waits and wonders if BP’s oil disaster is going to visit its beaches, most people are thinking about the environmental damage and the whammy it will bring to the just-thinking-about-recovering tourism industry. Those impacted the most so far, Louisiana, found people making a rush on the fresh fish markets, fearing stalls would be empty soon.

But as a prospect researcher, every time I hear of a downturn I know that someone is making money. Every crisis, every market crash, and yes, every environmental disaster means someone is going to be rolling in dough. Wouldn’t you have wanted the company manufacturing and distributing face masks during the SARS crisis to be your best donor? Well at this moment BP is paying folks to try to stop the oil leak, to clean up the spilled oil and for all of the services that wrap around those activities. Are any of those companies on your donor prospect list? I hope so!

I attended the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement-Florida chapter conference last week and was favored with a presentation by Lori and David Lawson of DonorTrends. This couple is always full of usable advice on prospect research and last week was no exception!

The Lawsons pointed out that the economy is always going up or down and that someone is always making money along the way. I’ve talked about “recession proof” businesses before such as waste disposal and funeral homes, but the Lawsons talked about those businesses that do even better when the economy is going down. Companies like repossessors, second-hand stores, junkyards and auctions are on the list. I could almost hear everyone in the room slapping their foreheads and saying “duh!” Yes, it sounds obvious once you hear it, but most of us are not viewing the economy from this perspective.

But the Lawsons didn’t just talk at us, they pointed us to some fabulous resources like Industry Trends information from a financial analysis company called Sageworks. Find out which private companies were doing the best and worst. Or maybe you have a donor prospect in one of the businesses that people are willing to indulge in when money is tight.

As a nonprofit it is in your best interest to diversify your portfolio of donors as much as possible. Prospect research can help you do this.  Take a peek into your donor database and start searching for donors whose business or industry might be doing even better right now and give them some special attention while you are waiting for other donors to recover.