According to Greg Warner’s MarketSmart 2020 Major Gift Benchmark study, 81% of donors take 6-24 months for prospect identification.

Building a pipeline is frustrating for most fundraisers. It requires time and consistent effort to find donors.

However, your patience is definitely worth it if you’re looking to scale by the millions.

The real question right now is . . . Who ISN’T hiring?

This means I’ve sat in tons of interviews for high-level development professionals who’ll be leading organizations to substantial revenue growth.

And I’m noticing a few trends and very interesting answers to interview questions that I’m sharing with you today.

It all boils down to time allocation.

In this episode, I’ll be discussing why you should align your time with your organization’s strategic plans and how it beats everything else.

An amazing client of mine that I’ve been coaching for years has told me that it only takes him 30 hours a week to reach his seven-figure revenue goal.

I repeat, 30 hours! You might think I’m kidding, but it is indeed possible.

So just like him, how can you hit your target number in less time? Prioritizing the right things and slowing down.

Objectivity has been a huge part of growing my business.

I’d think things are all going great. But when I invested in a business coach, they offered new ideas and views that made me go, “Oh, I never thought of it that way.”

We can’t always see the answer. That’s why, in this episode, I’ll be talking about three areas where objectivity is most needed for nonprofit leaders too.

There are so many things that impact your team’s ability to reach and exceed their revenue goals every year. And these have very little to do with traditional fundraising.

One of them is your ability to take risks.

Imagine attracting major donors who are on the lookout for visionary missions and plans that incorporate risk.

Now that we’ve laid out the fundamentals in season 1, it’s time to discuss growth. I’m talking by MILLIONS – those nonprofit leaders who have navigated growth and scaled tremendously.

We know 2020 was indeed hard for many nonprofit organizations. But we also know we can use this time as a catalyst for change.

Let’s not look back.

For 2022 and beyond, I want to encourage you to lean into an abundance mindset and the perks that come with this growth perspective.

There are three groups that partner your nonprofit’s revenue generation.

- Your Executive Director/CEO
- Your Fundraising Staff
- And, your Board

If one of those is not doing their job, reaching and exceeding your annual need is going to feel like you’re climbing a hill with a cannon ball strapped to your leg.

If you do fundraising the right way or go at it from a different perspective, you’ll actually realize that getting boards to play their role in fundraising doesn’t have to be so hard.

Let me show you how it’s done.

In these past two years in the midst of this pandemic, content has become king.

Believe me, I’ve been in so many webinars and podcasts that I’ve actually stopped counting.

And in nearly every one, there was a question that drove me crazy: “What’s the most creative thing you’re seeing in fundraising right now?”

Well, I’m not saying there isn’t any amazing stuff that came out of the pandemic - with everything shifting online.

We need to quit the narrative of constantly pursuing the shiniest, most creative thing because this is what keeps most organizations on the endless spin cycle.

So, I want to talk about three different and crucial areas that are being compromised because of this.

Inevitably, when I’m working with fundraising teams and digging into their major gift processes, a familiar question pops up: “Are you soliciting major-level donors?”

What I’m really asking is are you sitting down (one-on-one) and having a conversation and then asking. . .

But too often fundraising teams answer “yes” . . . followed by their list of asks they make in seasonal appeals and events.

But these aren’t the types of solicitations appropriate for major donors. They need something more.

My mission has always been to help nonprofit leaders and fundraisers to get their donors giving their best gift every year.

This mindset shift is a gamechanger. And the best news is that you, as the fundraiser, have so much more control of the pacing, the timing, and the size of the gifts than you think.

But, this is only possible if you intentionally shift your fundraising activities from a reactive state to a more proactive one.

So how can you pivot your donor relationships to a deeper level?

How can you start serving and leading them differently?

Storytelling is definitely an important aspect of nonprofits. But you may be wondering - how do we take our donors on a journey to their best gift?

By going beyond traditional storytelling.

Maybe you’ve booked that meeting with that sought-after donor. It went great. You shared their mission, the photos, and the stories. There was a tear shed at some point but when the money came, it was smaller than you hoped.

So what went wrong? I’m here to unpack everything you need to know.

“I don’t know any major donors. Where do I find them?”

This is one of the most common questions I get so often. And I challenge you to take a step back and look at the situation in a different light.

Today, I encourage you to stop chasing after major donors and start thinking of ways of how you can draw them in.

Nonprofit CEOs - do you know why major donors aren’t giving to you?

I’ve been excited to talk about this topic for a while now, and you may be curious about my answer.

Oftentimes, I hear from nonprofit CEOs who say:

“Our board members don’t know any major donors.”

“Donors don’t give to organizations that don’t do direct service work.”

“I don’t know anyone who could afford to give us the funds.”

In my methodology, I want to make sure that we identify the right questions going through a donor’s mind. Because if we don’t put ourselves in their shoes, we could be unknowingly stopping them from giving their best gift.

In the book, The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham, there is a wise nugget that goes: “We acted like it was a sin to miss a revenue opportunity. And that makes as much sense as needing to eat everything at the Sunday buffet.”

That hit a bullseye in me because so often, I’d hear fundraising teams being handcuffed by events, appeals, and campaigns - saying yes to everything, even if it makes the littlest amount of money.

I’m here to tell you that once you pick up my high ROI revenue generation model, you’ll see exactly what’s been keeping you from fully funding your mission year after year.

I was having conversations with two prospects, and I always ask: “How much more money do you need? How much would they want to grow?”

Organization A - with confidence - aimed to grow by 5x. Organization B, after some hesitation, answered 5 to 7%.

The latter surprised me. People usually come to me because they want growth by millions so they can invest fully in all three areas of their organization; programs, admin/overhead, and fundraising.

There’s a statistic that I share in every webinar and podcast I’m on.

The Urban Institute Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy says that 91% of organizations never reach $5 million in annual revenue, with 77% failing to reach the $1 million mark.

This stopped me dead in my tracks. I thought, “That is crazy! Why is this occurring?”

And that’s exactly what I’ve been working to solve for over a decade.

“Do your donors actually know that you need more money?”

“Of course, Sherry. We’re a nonprofit!”

Well, not so fast. There are so many things that get in the way and keep donors from understanding your nonprofit’s true financial need. And, sadly, it’s often the things we do, say, and imply that block donors from giving their best gift to our missions.

The good news? You can set up the systems and structure that attract and lead investment-level donors to give greater gifts every year.

We’re jumping right into the deep end for our first topic.

Right now, I’m working with a client who has amazing growth dreams for their organization: 25% every year for five years. The catch? They’ve been in the red, struggling to start raising the type of dollars that their big ideas require.

If you’re stuck in a funding plateau, it’s time to do something different to move past it and start raising the right money.

My podcast, The Business Behind Fundraising, is officially LIVE!