Optimize Altru’s Major Giving To Fundraise Like An MVP
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With holiday season in full effect, there are several certainties we can all count on. Unavoidable carbohydrates. The annual national debate about Starbucks cup designs. And, one of my favorites, football. It is ubiquitous. At nearly every family gathering, there is likely at least one person who insists upon watching the game.
Yes, football is my mandatory blog-leading metaphor. Wait! Don’t leave… you don’t have to know anything about football to follow this. I promise. Whether you realize it or not, you have a lot in common with football coaches. While your daily craft and vocabulary look very different, you have one major skillset in common: Game planning.
While talent and execution are important, strategy is critical. The plays that worked against last week’s team aren’t always the right plays for this week’s team. How do the coaches select the right playbook to give them the best chances for a victorious outcome? Scouting the opposition. Knowing the dynamics of the other team and how to match up can determine a win or a loss even before the kick-off whistle blows.
Your high-value fundraising operation is no different. You may have (or be) a MVP-caliber fundraiser. Talent, experience and intuition will take you to a point. But the approach that was successful with one major donor will not necessarily be as successful with the next. Even more, are you targeting the right donors or prospects? Are you leaving plays on the field (missing opportunities) because you haven’t discovered impactful donors that are hidden in plain sight within your Altru?
Simply put, with a solid plan and the common understanding to execute that plan, your major gift efforts can not only be more successful, but more sustainable.
Altru’s Major Giving functionality can be much more than managing the tactics of Opportunities, Plans, and Actions. It is also the foundation for gaining the insight needed to identify likely AND under-performing donors. Major Giving provides a fully-integrated experience with Research Point which provided unparalleled insight about the donors you should be targeting.
Of course, Altru is constantly gathering potential prospects for you. The challenge is figuring out who among all those ticket buyers and members are the best targets for major giving cultivation. This is where Major Giving Research Point becomes your advance scouting department. Ticket buyers and members can be easily screened (in bulk!) to uncover new targets as well as under-performing donors. That loyal $100 annual donor could wind up being your next $10,000 capital campaign contributor. All you need is a scouting assistant to tell you what you don’t already know. (Pssst… that’s what Research Point does!)
Is your Altru optimized to give you the edge over other fundraisers competing for your donors’ dollars? Is it providing franchise-altering scouting for your or simply acting as a game manager? Are you controlling the playing field with methodical play-calling or are you drawing penalty flags like:
- Delay of Game: Taking too much time to research, 5 yards, repeat 1st down
- Holding: Impeding development progress, 10 yards, repeat 1st down
- Or, worst of all… Unnecessary Roughness - Roughing the Fundraiser: Denying valuable resources to development, 15 yards, 2nd down
Do you need some coaching, yourself? We can help. Together, we can OPTIMIZE your Altru Major Giving playbook. We can help you not only optimize your tools, but develop the strategy to inform research and approach to improve the breadth and depth of your major giving program.
Visit arts.blackbaud.com to learn more.
Enter the 2017 season with the confidence to begin your dominant dynasty of major donor success!
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Blackbaud Altru® Blog
12/01/2016 4:50pm EST
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We've mostly been focusing on how to retain members. We have plenty of new members, but we want to keep them coming back.