Tag Archives: donating time

Why People Donate & Why They Avoid You if You’re Asking for Gifts

Have you ever asked people why they give? This can be a donation of time, money, or resources. It is crucial to know why a person gives if you’re looking for donations. It is also important to know why some people may avoid you!

The top reason a person gives, believe it or not, is because someone they know has asked them to give and they want to help. Simple and sweet!

The next eight reasons for why people give, according to experience:

Usually a person or someone they know is affected by what the mission is helping. They donate with a feeling to alleviate need.
People give because of what they get in return. It could be a good feeling, tax benefit, recognition, or some sort of driving force they achieve for another mission
People often feel emotionally moved by someone’s story. It becomes a personal connection and they have a desire to help
A person wants a sense of closeness to a community or group
There’s a desire to memorialize someone
Charitable family traditions – it’s the way a person was brought up
A person wants to leave a legacy
The feeling of being fortunate and wanting to help others

Going back to the TOP reason about why people give; people asking people they know AND getting the donation.

The reality is – there’s a downside. People get tired of being asked again and again to give. The sense of obligation soon subsides and a person being asked begins to avoid the person asking. Take a simple test:

Are your calls going unanswered, again and again?
Do you feel the notes you send get lost in the mail?
Do you leave a lot of voice messages, which are rarely returned?

Answering yes to any of these questions shows there’s a problem. We can help. There’s a quick remedy. Read on.

Develop a fundraising system, which does not rely on the same people giving over and over again because the group you ask continues to grow AND you know them. When you ask – they will give!

At SOAR we work with progressive people and organizations. Become part of our network, Get Free Tips – click here!

We also offer a look at your fundraising system through this quiz. Click here!

Crossing the Gap of Fundraising

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Answers to the following questions are your framework for crossing the gap:

How do you educate people about your organization?
What action steps do you have in place already?
Where do you position yourself in the market?
How do you plan to achieve your fundraising goal? Refer to your fundraising plan.

We began working with an organization February 8 who answered the questions the following way. The updated answers follow (2 months in).

How do you educate people about your organization?
- Feb. 8 – We share our message through newsletters. We invite people to come into our office and we show them around. We do pretty good with our Facebook page. We are members of the chamber and go to events.
- April 5 – We invite people to a networking event and facility tour at our location each month. We reach out to our partners, invite them and encourage them to become advocates because of the benefits we offer in return.
What action steps do you have in place?
- Feb. 8 – We invite people to come in and learn about us. They can volunteer too.
- April 5 – We designed a postcard invite for our networking events and tour. We give these out to people at events, and encourage advocates to share. We developed benefits for our advocates and share this with people. We train people on how to talk about our services. We talk more about our services and invite more people in. There’s momentum building.
Where do you position yourself?
- Feb. 8 – We help people who are ____________. We have grown so much these last couple of years as more people have gotten to know who we are but our fundraising program is struggling. We host an annual event and two years ago we had 300 people attend. Last year we had 200. We have not met our fundraising goal but feel changing our event to a dinner will help.
- April 5 – As a leader in the community. We educate people on services and we help people to get back on their feet. I love my job. It’s super, super busy but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
How do you plan to achieve your fundraising goal?
- Feb. 8 – We will host our annual event in six months. Most people cannot come during the day so we’re doing a dinner instead of a lunch. We’ve already secured a speaker and the location. We will host in six months. Invitations will be sent to our mailing lists.
- April 5 – Continue moving forward one day at a time. Keep this system that’s building active, among all of the other things I have to do. Our level of success is when we continue to move toward the goal. The process will take time but we will get there and it will be beneficial because of the relationships we’re building.

The statements above were paraphrased. The organization mentioned here learned about the program described in the book “SOAR with Network Fundraising” on

February 8. They have chosen to begin hosting networking events and to follow the system through consulting.

SOAR

Share your message with others
Offer opportunities for people to be involved
Accept the way people want to be involved
Respect and appreciate all people, ideas, and decisions

SOAR offers monthly, six month, and year-long programs. There is also a fundraising workshop during the summer, July 6 and 7, in Colorado. This is for people to learn the system and resource the tools to help grow a fundraising program. Learn about the different avenues to be involved through this link.

Reaching Fundraising Goals

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Raising money – it’s a cakewalk! Certainly you can make money doing a cake walk** but what we’re talking about now is “making it EASY to raise money.” Making sure it’s a piece of cake. Setting things up so raising money happens without too much effort. Finding the SWEET spot. What does it look like?

Set goals you can achieve

Watch for opportunities

Engage people in your program

Elevate your volunteer’s skills

Thankful heart – BE thankful for all people, places and things, which come your way! And, let it be known.

Simple enough! Spend time focused on the the SWEET areas within your program.

**Cakewalk: As music plays, people walk around a large circle of numbers. When the music stops, a number is picked from a container and the person standing closest to the corresponding number on the circle wins a cake. It’s a sweet deal! Especially if you get cakes donated and the players pay a small fee to participate. Then, it becomes a fun way to raise a little cash!

Learning to Raise Money

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How fast are you learning to use social media, hash tags, and your phone for everything?! It’s a necessity when doing business these days. What if your job is raising money? How you use the tools improves your chances for being successful. Learning is education and systems are easy to learn when they are introduced step by step.

At SOAR with Network Fundraising there’s a proven system, which works for raising money in any community. You are encouraged to learn more. And, if you want to talk 1:1 then send an email to iwantto@soarwithnetworkfundraising.com and let us know!

Resolutions Raise Money

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Do you believe resolutions help you raise money? We think of making resolutions for the new year and here we are – already IN 2018 for a week!!

Literally, making a resolution is the act or process of resolving. We often think of ways to improve our lives at the end of a year for the NEXT year. It’s a concept, which really could happen at the end of EVERY MONTH…or EVERY WEEK…or EVERY DAY, right? Why do we wait for the end of the year?

Resolving is the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones. It’s the act of answering or solving. It is determining. Raising money is one of those complex acts, don’t you think? Certainly, it takes time to plan out the steps involved. Fundraisers usually do this by putting together a fundraising plan, which is simple enough. We have a page committed to doing just that at SOAR with Network Fundraising. You can take a look through this link – Click Here! It will give you a step toward a successful resolve.

SOAR also gives flight to fundraising plans through discussions with qualified fundraising professionals. You are guaranteed to resolve a bigger smile! Email iwantto@soarwithnetworkfundraising.com with your interest to learn more.

“NO DOUBT” – A Sign for Raising Money

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A non-profit has many things to focus on and first and foremost it is the service they offer to help others. The mission is most-important – NO DOUBT!

There’s also no doubt when it comes to raising money. A non-profit generally has the majority of their funding acquired through grants and donations. There’s NO DOUBT the people they get their money from can certainly put those resources somewhere else. What happens then? It’s a very difficult time for a non-profit if they haven’t diversified their fundraising.

Think about your own money and the way you approach life. Did your mother ever mention something to you about putting all of your eggs in one basket? Have you found yourself saying the same thing to others? All of your eggs in one basket have a tendency to break when you trip and fall. Having numerous baskets with numerous carriers simply increases the odds of success. The same is true with raising money.

SOAR with Network Fundraising increases the odds of financial sustainability because we help organizations build networks of people, a V-formation, which works together to reach the destination!

It’s time to SOAR, raise more money and reach new heights – there’s NO DOUBT in the minds of successful non-profits who are working to SOAR with Network Fundraising.

Year-long Development Program – Reservations by December 31 for $150

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SOAR with Network Fundraising already knows the tools necessary to achieve success when raising money. This is a “one box fits all” fundraising system because it’s set up to adapt within your community through 1:1 networking meetings.

We are accepting new clients into our 2018 year-long development program until December 31, 2017 with only $150 down. You determine the best month to begin your program after we’ve had a discussion.

$150 reserves your place and pays for the initial call. You’ll work with a professional fundraiser while you are in the program. This person basically joins your team for a complete year! The total cost for the program is discounted 37.5% but beginning January 1 the cost goes back up to $8000 for the year-long program. Buy now for $5000, which can be broken down into a payment plan throughout the next twelve months.

There’s no risk because we guarantee a full refund of the total cost if you do not “at least” triple your investment during the year!

There has never been a better way to add a fundraising professional to your team without hiring a new staff member!!

Year-long Development Program – Reservation

This initial cost of $150 reserves your place in the development program, which begins for you sometime in 2018. The total cost is discounted 37.5% from the original cost of $8000 for Year-long Development with SOAR!

$150.00

The Appeal For Giving Comes First

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Fundraisers talk about appeals all the time when raising money. It’s the appeal, or ask for a gift! Is now the right time to ask? It certainly is if you’ve already prepared and educated people about your organization. If not…stay away from the ask! Instead, think about the future and how you raise the appeal or desire in others through your actions.

We’re sitting on top of a gold mine for 2018. SOAR is in Colorado where the Gold Rush happened in the middle 1800’s. Gold mining continues with the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine, which is close to where we live. They are the largest employer in the area. If gold mining goes away in this county so do a lot people’s dreams. The same is true with your fundraising. No dollars – no dreams!

Raising the appeal for giving is when the people you ask for money – GIVE IT!

The appeal in our lives is that we always have the opportunity to sit back and let the chips fall where they may. “We’ve done all we can do” is often our excuse. The last five days of 2017 are no exception. People say: We’re done for the year; What we do now is not going to make a difference on the bottom line. Is this really true!? NO!

Actually, now is the most-important time to be diligent. You have five days to impact your future financial success for 2017. But, more importantly, this rolls into what happens for 2018 as well. You know THIS to be true.

Raising the appeal within others to give a gift to you is extremely valuable. Lots of people do their annual giving through campaigns set up nationally now. The list is online. They can donate from the comfort of their home and no one is “asking” again and again for a gift.

This statement is now common, “I now give to two organizations each year and I’ve already given.”

Now, more than ever, relationships matter if you want to be one of two organizations a person is giving to. SOAR develops relationships. We help organizations become THE “connector” in their community. People CHOOSE to donate to the organizations we are involved with because the organizations are making a difference for others and not just asking for money!

SOAR works with a handful of organizations each year and we have a few openings for 2018 available in our Year-long Development Program, which is currently discounted through December 31, 2017. Learn more here!

Timely Investments for Raising Money

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Timely Investments:

7 to 12 months before fundraiser
6 to 1 month before fundraiser
1 month to the day of fundraiser

History proves a professional fundraiser raises, on average, 41% more money for an organization, when a successful fundraising system is put into place. It means, if you raised $50,000 last year you’re going to raise $70,500 this year.

The simple formula is – take the dollar amount you raised last year and multiply by .41 and then, add the number you get to your original number. For example: You raised $90,000 last year. $90,000 times .41 is $36,900. Add $90,000 and $36,900 together and you get the magic number of $126,900.

There are systems out there, no doubt, which will encourage you to do things outside your comfort zone. How about sticking to what’s natural?

SOAR’s system has proven to increase dollars raised by 126% within 4 months and 371% within 16 months by highlighting people’s gifts. This means participating organizations must be diligent and open-minded about following a system and sharing the things they’re good at with others.

Timeline prior to a fundraising event:

7 to 12 months before fundraiser – This is when you are spreading the word about your organization because you’re hosting networking events. HOW you do this is important.
6 to 1 month before fundraiser – This is when you change to every other month for networking events, and spend time with a core group of people who are instrumental in achieving your success.
1 month to the day of fundraiser – This is the month when you are looking past the fundraiser and what happens afterwards.

SOAR works with corporations and non-profits to put together Collaborative Networking Events.

SOAR is…here!

Timely investments are HOW you spend your time. The value of follow up…PRICELESS

FREE Friday at SOAR with Network Fundraising

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Free download of SOAR’s published book on Friday, December 1. Get “SOAR with Network Fundraising” when you click on the link provided to you. Get details for FREE Friday ahead of time and get the LINKS sent to you directly. There will be something given away on Fridays from SOAR with Network Fundraising. Register here to get on the mailing list to see what’s coming next with FREE Friday!