Hi, everyone!
Since this is the week of #daanutsav , how about sharing a tip or an anecdote about something that you practice in fundraising or donor engagement! When you share with examples, we would know it works… and we could try!
Let me begin by sharing something that works for me for meeting prospective funders…
I always try to gather information about the person I am meeting (online/ in-person). I do a web search, read up their LinkedIn profile, their recent activity, causes they support, organisations they are associated with, what they post, who they follow, our common connections, their academic background, places they worked or lived in, their org website.
I use all of this information to do the following:
a) how to present facts to this person such that he or she could relate to it/ absorb considering their background, their domain expertise, their role in the organisation. I plan in advance, words and expressions that would register well. The words I choose to convey the same message to a CA would be different from what I would choose to convey the same message to an MSW.
b) I would visit their website fairly deeply to identify what they already have and what more they could show or how they could cross-link
c) I would watch a video/ speech/ interview of the person to learn a bit about their mannerism so that I can pick cues during my conversation
d) I would send them stuff to pre-read, especially if its someone who appears to have a short attention span
I would spend between 15-30 minutes preparing for the meeting. If I do not have the luxury of time, some times, do all of the above while travelling or waiting for the person.
Would love to hear your tips!