I am joined today by Marissa Nehlsen, CEO of a 7-figure business, public speaker, coach, philanthropist, and an all-around incredible person.  Like me, she is originally from North Dakota which makes my heart happy!  What advice would you give to someone who is stuck in the financial mindset? I love this question and here’s my…Continue reading Episode 159 | How to Create a Rich Nonprofit with Marissa Nehlsen, Part 2

I am joined today by Marissa Nehlsen, CEO of a 7-figure business, public speaker, coach, philanthropist, and an all-around incredible person.  Like me, she is originally from North Dakota which makes my heart happy!  Tell us why the world needs us rich. The world needs us rich in all areas and my team and I…Continue reading Episode 158 | How to Create a Rich Nonprofit with Marissa Nehlsen, Part 1

I am joined today by Marissa Nehlsen, CEO of a 7-figure business, public speaker, coach, philanthropist, and an all-around incredible person.  Like me, she is originally from North Dakota which makes my heart happy! 

 

Tell us why the world needs us rich.

The world needs us rich in all areas and my team and I focus on four areas of poverty.  I coach and train on poverty mindset with practical steps and practical ideas to bring people out of poverty.  What it means to me to live life rich is about really bringing everything into alignment – spiritually, emotionally, financially, and in your relationships.  These things are all connected.  You can’t give yourself what you don’t have.  I’m a love warrior and a joy warrior.  I will storm the gates with water pistols because we’re not leaving people in poverty and in a poverty mindset.  I see very wealthy people and organizations that are struggling with mindset.  And then I see people who don’t have financial needs.  I believe that freedom comes from when we know who we are, who we serve, and where we’re going. 

 

What would say to a nonprofit leader who wants to end the poverty of running from one fundraiser to the next and really wants to create a rich nonprofit?

When the team first came together in my nonprofit, we decided right away that we did not want to be a donation-dependent ministry.  So, we decided to run it from a business standpoint because I believe in stewardship.  The first thing I would ask is if you can think about your nonprofit as a business, what are you producing? Let’s look at your inventory.  Is there something you can reproduce to make a business?  Sometimes, it doesn’t have anything to do with your nonprofit.  For example, I have a client who has a recycling center that runs their nonprofit.  They saw a need in the community but then used the profits from the recycling center to fund the ministry.  I look at it like this, there are three ways to grow money – you can invest in your business, you can invest in someone else’s business, or you can invest in real estate.  Now, the three ways you can grow your business; you can increase the price of the services you’re selling, you can get more clients, or you can get those clients to buy more often. 

 

What are the four elements to living a rich life?

Financially, is one of them, obviously. But in ministry work, it’s about spirituality.  When you really begin to listen to that voice, there is a spirit of “lack” in the world around us.  It’s almost like it says that you as a ministry or nonprofit leader cannot live a “rich” lifestyle because you’re taking away from someone else.  It doesn’t matter how well you’ve saved or what investments you’ve made, all “they” see is that you drive a nice car and live in a nicer house than them.  You really have to make a decision between you and your Creator, will I live in lack or want, or will I live in abundance.  We have not because we ask not.  It’s very clear, write your vision, be specific.  Every day I ask, “all that I have, all that I’m going to be, all that I ever will be, is yours so rain down.”  We are called to be stewards.  Good stewardship starts with making sure that you give back, but also that you take care of you and your family. 

 

Another area we talk about is in our emotional side.  There’s emotional poverty and this is the area where we think we’re being selfish if we do something different.  Again, I come back to you can’t give what you don’t have so you have to start with loving yourself first.  There’s a healing that comes along with that; healing the hurts of the past, forgiveness, gratefulness, boundaries.  Relationally, how we live out our relationships is the fourth area.  I don’t think we can save the whole world, but I think you can save the little part that you’ve been given access to.  Anything of significance starts with relationships. 

 

Connect with Marissa:

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Mary Valloni

Fundraising Freedom Academy

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Today I want to talk about the basics of fundraising. During this season where we are in the midst of a lot of uncertainty, I understand that people are being sensitive when it comes to asking for money.  I want to take a step back and talk about why people say yes in the first place and why we don’t have to do anything crazy during this season.  We just need to get back to the basics. 

In the past few years, neuroscience has shown us that we have three “brains” which are the head brain, the heart brain, and the gut brain.  Many of you have heard me talk about the Enneagram, which is a personality test.  In the Enneagram, there is a breakdown of how we each process information.  Some of us lean toward one area than the other two, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t make decisions with a combination of all three areas.  When you’re talking to your donor base, you have to appeal to all three areas.  The “head brain” has 86 billion neurons and this is where we process data and numbers. In the “heart brain” there are 40,000 neurons buzzing around and these are tied to feelings and emotions.  Finally, there are 100 million neurons in your “gut brain” and this is linked to your intuition.  You make decisions that may not seem rational, you don’t have a ton of data to back it up, but it’s just something you feel in your gut.  When it comes to your donors, you’ve probably heard them make statements like, “I feel like I’m supposed to be a part of this” or “my gut tells me I’m supposed to get involved.”  It just depends on which brain they typically make decisions with.  You can tell which one they (and you) lean on based on language cues.  So, what does this all have to do with fundraising?

We have to appeal to all three brains.  When you think through your fundraising efforts, you need to focus on the storytelling aspect as well as the numbers.  We have the ability to create incredible stories about our causes that connect to the heart and provides an emotional connection to what we’re doing.  But we can’t only lean on the emotional connection, we must also incorporate the statistics and information to appeal to the highly logical donor; the one who is thinking through all of the details.  This is why it’s important to know exactly how much you’re trying to raise and what you’re going to do with those dollars.  However, we also have to include the “gut” person.  And this one is a lot harder because when it comes to the gut, that person is looking at everything – the story, the statistics, and the branding.  When the gut person makes decisions, they are looking at the whole picture and they tend to make snap judgments about people and organizations. How do you know what’s working?  Through conversations with your current and past donors.  Talk to them about what helped them make the decision to get involved. 

With your head, you have got to make sure that in the information you share includes the statistics, numbers, and any other tangible information that relates to why you’re needed.  Tell us about the country or community you live in with real statistics so that people know your cause is a good use of their time and money.  On the heart side, you need to tug at the heartstrings to make people feel something.  You can do this through stories, with photos of people you’ve served, or the work you’ve done in the community.  Finally, in order to reach the gut thinkers, you have to have your “stuff” together.  That means you need to make everything simple and easy for people to get involved with the work you do.  As a donor, don’t make me question whether or not you’re good at what you do; which can happen if you have poor graphics or worse, I can’t figure out what it is you do.  This all comes back to messaging.  When you’re clear and to the point, this allows people to have a gut reaction to your cause because they have such clarity about what you do.  It doesn’t allow for any negativity to creep in.

The best journey you can take someone on is to start with the heart.  Know your ‘why’ because the heart is what allows you to keep going (compelling vision).  Then, move to the head.  Bring in the data to back up the heart.  Now, you can jump to the gut.  You have an opportunity to be a change agent.  You get to be the solution to the problem that changes people’s lives.  This is what compels your donors to give because they want to be part of the change.  Finally, you go back to the head because it’s time to handle the objections.  You want to clear up those objections for your donors and help them see why they are a good fit. 

I hope you can see how and why it’s important to incorporate all three parts of the brain.  If you only go in the direction that feels most comfortable to you, then you leave too much room for people to say no.  When people have clarity, feel connected, and have a conviction, they will write you a check. 

 

Connect with Mary:

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In today’s episode, I’m sharing with you the 3-part process I use to help charities raise more money.  These last couple of months have been a bit crazy and the last several episodes I’ve talked a lot about this pandemic and how to walk through this season.  But I want you to know that the topics I’ve covered are things you should do all the time, not just during a pandemic. 

This 3-part process is what I say in the introduction of every one of my shows, “this is the place where fundraisers come to be encouraged, empowered, and educated.”  This approach is most effective with charities raising funds and it has worked really well for me.  First, let’s talk about education; the process of learning how to fundraise. 

Fundraising is not hard.  If you haven’t read it, you should check out my book, Fundraising Freedom.  I walk you through the word FREEDOM, which is a 7-step process on how to fundraise.  The majority of what I teach is that the 7-step system because it’s so much bigger than just fundraising.  Fundraising is not just about you.  So many people try to go it alone, and nothing that has ever been successful has happened because of any one person’s strength alone.  It’s so important that we invite other people to come along with us.  The first part of my process is how to bring a team together with one common purpose, which is to fully fund your organization or personal budget.  Prior to 2007, I did all of my fundraising on my own.  I was a “Lone Ranger” trying to raise those funds by myself, I never wanted to impose.  This is the wrong way to fundraise.  You NEED to bring people around you who bring in different perspectives.  It doesn’t matter if you’re raising a few thousand dollars or a million dollars, it’s all the same. 

After teaching people how to fundraise, the second part of my process is encouragement.  People want to give to the work you do.  You are the one who is coming up with excuses and standing in your own way.  The reason why I know this is because I’ve done this for the last two decades!  I know how to procrastinate and avoid picking up the phone.  Many people think that picking up the phone is something that comes naturally to me, and while I love people, it’s still hard to block out time for fundraising calls.  Everyone needs someone pumping encouragement into your life; encouraging others is my superpower which is probably why you’re listening to the show in the first place!

The last piece of the process is about empowerment.  Empowering someone to step out on their own is the ideal for me.  I’m always looking for people who are passionate about the work that is happening inside their organizations and helping raise them up as leaders so they can go out and fundraise on their own, without an attachment to me.  The best thing that happens with my students is when they talk about the successes they’ve had.  All of a sudden, they feel empowered to go out and ask people for funds in a way that doesn’t feel slimy and feel excited about sharing their cause.  I don’t mind jumping in and helping someone raise those funds in the beginning, but it’s so much better when you do it with your own team.  I’m there to walk with you and catch you so you don’t fall on your face.  And, just like learning to ride a bike, when the training wheels come off, sometimes you do fall.  In fact, one of my students told me this week that they screwed up the process and didn’t do it to a tee, and yet, the person they asked still gave. 

On top of this process, I want to share with you three things every leader needs.  First, you need to be attractive to others so they want to lean in and learn more about you.  Being likable is a big deal.  Now, I’m not talking about being physically attractive, I’m talking about drawing people into the work that’s being done.  The second is certainty.  When you hem and haw about the work being done, people see that and will not fund you.  You must be certain about the results you can deliver as a person or organization.  Lastly, don’t be boring.  People don’t follow boring people.  When you rattle on and on about your organization and nothingness, nobody wants to follow that. You have to be exciting and share stories about the good work that’s being done.  This is what draws people into you and your organization.  All this means is that you communicate well and are concise in your message. 

If you would like to have more of a conversation about how you can learn how to do this with a signature event or a larger campaign, please don’t hesitate to reach out.  It’s why I’m here, I want to help you through the process.  I hope you know I care so deeply about you and the work that you do.  When you believe it’s possible to raise the dollars you need, you will make a crazy impact through your cause.

 

Connect with Mary:

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Fundraising Freedom Academy

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I’m joined today with Casey Hill, Head of Growth at Bonjoro.  Bonjoro is a personalized video messaging app with the mission of empowering every organization to build real and lasting relationships with its customers, donors, or community, no matter where they live or work. Casey is a published contributor with Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., and many other world-class outlets. At his core, Casey believes passionately in connecting people and a customer-centric mindset. 

Why do you think video is so important?

Video has context.  It has facial expression, voice, and body language.  This is why video is so powerful.  People see a video and it allows them to relate and there is a sense of familiarity; there is a real human being on the other side.  Another reason is it’s different.  People receive mass amounts of solicitations every day through emails and newsletters.  If you do something unique, that becomes a branding component of you and captures the attention of your audience.

How do you recommend someone gets started with recording videos?

When it comes to personal video, the number one fear that is holding people back is actually being in front of a camera.  But, this is more about building a relationship.  People relate to other people who are authentic.  You don’t have to be in a studio with perfect lighting and soundboard.  There’s a big difference in a professionally produced video and a personal video in terms of how you build a connection with someone.  The imperfection is what aids those personal videos.  At the core, it’s all about being human. 

The other thing that trips people up is the time component.  You really want to drill down on the result.  You might make 100 calls in a day and get one donor.  Maybe you can only do 40 videos in a day, which is obviously less, but maybe you get two new donors out of the deal.  The result is you’re now getting two instead of one.  Yes, recording a video is going to take more time, but I think you’ll have a greater impact. 

Do you have an example of a nonprofit successfully using videos?

One I’ve been working with recently is an organization that has hospitals and doctors internationally and they’ve been recording videos on the ground of people getting operations and showing donors their dollars at work.  It’s not a cinematic production; it’s real people talking to the kids they are helping.  It’s incredibly powerful if you as a donor receive a personal video from the organization you just made a donation to.  Video allows you to show gratitude in a whole new way. 

Can you share a little more about Bonjoro?

Basically, Bonjoro allows you to send personalized video emails. Say you have 50 people who have made donations and you want to send them a personal thank you.  You’d take that list of people, upload it into our system either from your phone or computer, then you start recording those thank-yous.  And that’s it.  What this does is show your donors that you’ve taken the time out of your day to do this thing, which is so meaningful.  You’re investing in that relationship, and the most successful organizations are the ones with strong relationships with their donors and communities.

Aside from Bonjoro, are there any other resources you would recommend?

I’m a huge book person, and I recently gave my first 10 out of 10 review.  It’s a book called Fanocracy by David Scott.  The whole concept is how to build fans around your organization.  It’s so applicable to everyone, no matter your industry.  Everyone benefits from having not just a customer, but a fan.  When you think about the brands you’re loyal to, what are the things they do to impress you?  The book dives deep into that concept and it goes into this interesting chapter which talks about mirror neurons which is very applicable to video.

What does fundraising freedom mean to you?

What first comes to mind is staying ahead of the game, or not being stuck in the mode of desperation.  When a donor calls your organization asking if you need help, that’s what you do when a family member or friends needs help.  That’s a different level of connection.  To me, that is an awesome example of getting out of the “playing catch-up” mode.  That organization has clearly spent time cultivating their relationships with their donor base. 

 

Resources mentioned:

Forbes Article

Fanocracy: Turning Fans Into Customers and Customers Into Fans

 

Connect with Casey:

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Bonjoro

 

Connect with Mary:

Mary Valloni

Fundraising Freedom Academy

Fully Funded Academy

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In today’s episode, we are talking about the free resource every charity needs to reboot and start again.  We are in a season where we do need to reboot because we’ve never been here before.  If we look at anything that’s happened in our past, recessions, depressions, etc. we can look to them and see that things will not be the same.  We cannot, especially in our fundraising efforts, go back to the way we were doing it before.  Go to maryvalloni.com to download my free checklist and workbook.  Both of these resources come right out of my program Fundraising Freedom Academy.

 

If you’ve read my book, Fundraising Freedom, you know I lean heavily on the seven steps I train inside that book.  These are the seven steps I teach every single one of my clients regardless if they are a small startup raising a couple of thousands of dollars or they are big organizations raising multi-millions.  All of them run off this seven-step process.  When you download the checklist, you’ll see the first question asks where you are in the fundraising process.  I want you to see that most people jump right to step six when fundraising, Make the Ask, because they need cash.  They jump into asking for money because they want to make a difference.  When you jump right to step six, you miss out on the first five steps.  You have to start with step one, Focus Your Vision.  This first step is what will help you create clarity on who you are and what you stand for.  It will also help you determine your mission, your timeline, your budget, etc.  Don’t get confused about mission versus vision.  A mission statement tells people why you exist.  A vision statement is your desired end result.  The reason why I want you to spend a good chunk of time on your vision is that if you screw up the vision step of the process, you’re in trouble.  If you don’t have a vision people want to follow or a movement that drives people to all move in the same direction, you’re in trouble before you even get started. 

 

Run Your Research is where I start to give you some homework to see what others are doing.  Follow 1-3 organizations that are doing similar work and are in the budget range that you want to be.  All you have to do is pay attention to these organizations – how are they succeeding, how do they share their stories?  Having these conversations gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how these organizations are running.

 

After you’ve run your research and found out what other people are doing, it’s now time to Enlist Your Team.  I tell everyone that the team will make or break your fundraiser/fundraising.  You cannot out-perform a bad team.  If you have a couple of bad apples on the executive team, no one gets to out-perform that.  You must pay close attention to the people you allow into your inner circle – especially in the area of fundraising.  I’m a huge advocate of building out an advisory team around your fundraising.  You need to have people who sit around the table and only look at your fundraising.  Remember, your board is not only recruited to look at your finances, they were recruited because they have some sort of connection to your mission and they care about the people you serve.  They’re probably focused on step seven, Make Your Difference.  For us, we need a team of people who only look at finances.  When you have a team that is solely focused on money, you will raise the dollars you actually want to raise. 

 

As you continue through the checklist, step four is Enhance Your Brand, which is all about your website, marketing, and branding.  Most people say they run out of contact pretty quickly and when you get your branding in place, you will never lose contacts.  This is why I revamped my website because branding is so important.  Then I jump into Deploy Your Team and what you want your team members and volunteers to do.  Then it moves on to Organize the Ask, and finally, Make Your Difference. 

 

Remember, a lot of people show up, but they don’t show up ready to serve.  Show up, filled up.  Making that mental shift can make all the difference.  Show up ready to serve and wherever the conversation goes, you’ll be ok with it.  People are going to be drawn to you because you are a strong leader.  Leaders are attracted to leaders.  And when it comes down to it, donors want to know that their money is being spent wisely.  They didn’t become rich or successful because they were lazy.  They worked really hard for their money.  They want to be paired up with a charity that looks like them.  If you are doing this halfway, you are going to lose people.  If you’re ready to reboot and start again, go through the checklist and start working through what you need to do.  Then, download the workbook to get the templates and fill out the checklist items.  You can also check out my website to see all the ways we can work together. 

 

 

Connect with Mary:

Mary Valloni

Fundraising Freedom Academy

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Today I want to talk through how we can take back some control and turn things around for our causes so that when we come out of this pandemic, we are stronger than ever.  I want to share a few ideas with you as you’re walking through this season. 

 

First, it’s all about perspective.  There are two different ways you can look at this time – you can look at your fundraising as “oh no, we’re going to lose so much money during this season,” where you’re freaking out and leaning toward a decline in funding versus, looking at this time as an opportunity.  What can you do to make this your greatest season ever?  I’m not sure which side you sit on today, but I hope that by the time we are finished with today’s episode you are sitting on the growth side of the fence. 

 

In 2007, I was hired by the American Cancer Society to start a brand-new fundraiser.  It was a gala called the Cattle Baron’s Ball, which was an event that was taking place across the country.  When I was first hired, I was told that the ACS had never hired this position before.  I was so excited because I felt like I had been given the chance of a lifetime.  I did not take this task lightly. I spent my days walking into that office studying, learning, and trying to figure out what I needed to know about the organization so I could really talk intelligently about the work being done.  I did not waste a moment of time while I was there.  I don’t know how long you’ve been in your organization, but I want to ask you, “are you hungry?”  Are you hungry to make a difference and to fulfill the mission and vision of your cause?  If you are questioning your attention and commitment, I challenge you to start right there.  How can you get that back?

 

My mindset was new money, new money, new money.  I was knocking on doors, I was making appointments and making friends.  I was inviting people to volunteer and trying to create new volunteer roles and positions so I could get myself in front of different companies and individuals.  I spent every day researching my competition – what they were doing, who their sponsors and top volunteers were, and their successes.  What I want you to think about here is if you’re looking for new money, you need to change your perspective toward opportunity and away from the fear and loss.  You have to push everything you knew before aside and start looking at today.

 

Number two, I want you to create something new.  Start over.  I’m not saying to you need to completely scrap everything from the past, but you need to start from a new perspective.  Innovate.  Be creative.  Take something you’ve done in the past and modify it.  Obviously, gathering in big crowds is not going to be an option this year.  Allow for time in your schedule to think through how you will either create something new or modify something from your past. 

 

Number three, I want you to consider inviting volunteers to help you create this new idea.  I strongly believe in engaging volunteers and know that our most successful events/fundraising happen because we have a lot of people who are all moving in the same direction together.  We often call that a movement, we are all moving in the same direction.  You have to invite people to serve and to step up.  If you try and go this alone, you will only get so far.  I want you to really focus on how you get your volunteers more involved because this is what will help you create synergy to do things you’ve never done before.  I was able to raise half of a million dollars during a recession because I found that “one” volunteer who I was able to engage.  Imagine for a moment that you are doing no fundraisers and you’re starting from scratch.  So, what are you going to do? 

 

In my case, I reached out to an acquaintance I met at a networking event.  She sat down next to me and said, “Mary, I know everybody in this town.”  And it wasn’t in an arrogant sort of way, it more of a statement.  She had been working in the community for a long time.  And even though we hadn’t seen each other in a few years, I reached out to her, not because I wanted her dollars, but because I wanted her advice and feedback on the pulse of the community.  We left that call with her telling me she would do some research and get back with me.  She called me back in a matter of minutes after typing into Google, American Cancer Society gala and found the Dallas Cattle Baron’s Ball.  She was like, why don’t we just do what they are doing?  Now granted, the Dallas Cattle Baron’s Ball was well established and was raising well over $3 million dollars at that time.  We were in an ag community and have similar cultures and so we went with it and in just over 18 months, we netted $500,000.  Do you see how this all started? It was literally one conversation with one person and all I did was ask her advice.  And, it was all done in the midst of the Great Recession of 2008.  I have replicated this same fundraiser and helped thousands of organizations and individuals do this same thing. 

 

I was very fortunate in that I had a great mentor.  I had him walking me through this every step of the way.  I believe everyone needs a mentor and I want to be that for you and your organization.  We all need a guide – especially if you’ve never raised that kind of money before.  I think the reason so many of us fail is that we get it in our minds that we have to do our own thing, all on our own.  This is a false perspective.  It’s time to flip the switch and come from a fresh perspective.  Work with people you like, invite people into a new fundraising campaign in this new season.  As soon as you do this, you’re going to love the people you work with, you’re going to love your job, and ultimately, you’re going to love fundraising. 

 

 

Connect with Mary:

Fundraising Freedom Academy

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Mary Valloni

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Fundraising Freedom Roadmap

 

 

 

Dr. Jonathan Roe has been a non-profit coach and trainer in AZ for more than a decade and is the Founder and CEO of Venture 1:9. Venture 1:9 guides non-profits to a place of courage, health, sustainability and impact, through free training, coaching and granting. After graduating college in Boston, Jonathan spent 17 years in church leadership, pastoring two local churches near Washington, D.C. and Columbus, Ohio. In early 2008, he moved to Phoenix to begin work serving and strengthening Christian non-profit organizations. Jonathan also serves as an Adjunct Professor for Johnson University (Tennessee/Florida) and Point University (Alabama/Georgia), teaches at the CCV Church Leadership Institute, and is a coach and mentor to various community leaders.

 

How did you get into fundraising and why are you so passionate about it?

One of the reasons I’m so passionate about fundraising is you’re raising up people as well as generating resources; to be connected in a meaningful way with your work.  And it’s not just the financial resources.  I work with groups all the time who believe their number one need is a whole bunch of money right now.  When I dig in, oftentimes I see that they aren’t even ready for a whole bunch of money right now.  You need dollars to obtain resources, but you need a bunch of great people with you as well.  Not just high dollar donors, but high-level volunteers who are connected with the work.  To me, fundraising helps to make all of that happen.

 

What are you seeing that’s actually working where people/organizations are able to create sustainability?

If nonprofits want to be around for the long-haul, they have to have various streams of healthy income.  If a nonprofit is running its entire operation off of five families that are providing major gifts, while great, it puts the organization on thin ice.  Or, organizations that are primarily funded by grants – it’s great that they can get those grants, but those [grants] are just a little economic shift from going away.  Focus on the raising up of people.  If you have people who are connected with your work, they are going to help drive your organization forward as well.

 

Why do you see faith-based organizations trying to go it alone?

I think a lot of it comes down to how much do you, as a nonprofit leader, really believe in the work you’re doing.  Not just to change the lives of the people you’re serving, but also the way it will change the lives of the people who are connected with the work.  I see this in fundraising also where I’ll attend an event and the organization will spend 75 minutes talking about all the incredible things that are happening.  And then there’s this really interesting dynamic, where when they get to the end of all that and it comes time to ask people to commit financial resources to it, they all of a sudden begin to apologize for asking for people to give.  I don’t understand that because your work is so incredible, why are you not shouting from the mountain top about the incredible opportunity for others to get involved and drive this work forward?  Looking at our work and fundraising as transactional is the exact opposite of what it should be.  Especially when you look at it from a biblical perspective.  It should be about what we can do together and how we are going to be changed together. 

 

For those who are just getting started in their fundraising, what advice would you give?

When groups come to me for help, there are two things I say right away.  First, I have them tell me what they are going to do – 20 minutes later they cannot explain their work to me.  Startup organizations need to be straight on the message – who you are, what you’re doing, what you’re not going to do, how resources are going to be spent, and what’s going to happen over the next 12-24 months.  9 out of 10 nonprofits I work with do NOT have their messaging figured out.  You have to be able to articulate what your work is and why you’re doing it.  Second, set goals connecting the donors rather than dollars.  What I mean by that is, that a lot of organizations think they have to go raise their money as quickly as they can.  But when you only set goals connecting with dollars, the danger is when you hit that goal, you think you’re done.  However, instead of focusing on raising $50,000 for example, focus on raising up your next 50 people.  Maybe 5 of those are going to be major gift donors, 10 are going to be monthly partners, 5 might be foundations and so on.  As you work through this exercise, you’re essentially working through your fundraising strategy. 

 

What does fundraising freedom mean to you?

You are not going to experience fundraising freedom when you are a slave to the bottom line.  Sometimes nonprofits get so focused on the dollar amount that needs to be raised, and don’t get me wrong, we need money to get resources, but when that’s the focus then if they aren’t bottom-lining money quickly enough, they start to get desperate.  The flip side of that is to understand that you’re raising money to do great work.  You must seek to understand your givers and partners so that you’re having the right conversations and providing them with opportunities at the right time for them. 

 

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Venture 1:9

 

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Mary Valloni

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In the United States alone, we’ve gone through 15 recessions in the last 91 years.  Many people talk about the Great Depression that started in 1929, which played a huge role in the way we live today.  That generation still hides money under their mattresses and in different parts of the house because they couldn’t put their money in the bank.  Many of us look to the most recent recession aka the Great Recession that lasted from 2007-2009 and many fundraisers were impacted during that time.  Factor in 9/11 and all of those events have impacted how we live today.  We’ve clearly been able to thrive during every single of those situations and nothing is different about our current situation with COVID-19 either.

 

Think about all of the jobs that have been in existence in the last 100 years that are no longer around.  It’s because something new or innovative has come to take its place.  That’s really what I want you to remember.  Just because you’re working in a company or organization that was relevant a couple of months ago, it may not be relevant in the next couple of months.  And that’s why in last week’s episode I encouraged you to go back to your vision; to remind yourself why you exist.  I’ve been doing the same.  I’ve been committed to ending that lack and scarcity mindset.  To be perfectly honest, I’m sick of it!  And this new pandemic has created another excuse for lack and scarcity.  We are great at pointing the finger at all the reasons we aren’t raising the funds we need.  So today, I want to address it.  There are 3 things we need to do in order to thrive: accept that change is inevitable, you need to make yourself relevant, and speak up.

 

We are more than likely going to be hunkered down for the next few months at least.  How are you going to serve your people?  How are you going to change the way you do business?  What are you going to do modify your work so that you are relevant during this time?  Most importantly, this is NOT the time to freeze what you’re doing.

 

Last week, I hosted a coaching call to bring everyone together.  One of the things I continue to share is that you must continue reaching out to people.  Keep asking your donor base for advice during this time.  Like I’ve said before, ask for advice and you’ll get money.  Ask for money and you’ll get advice.  The more you ask for advice, the more engaged your volunteers and donors will be with the work you’re doing.  If you don’t speak up and rally them together, they aren’t going to come to track you down. 

 

I want to share a few ideas with you on how I’m implementing these 3 things.  One of the major areas I focused on when I first got started was that I wanted to be a fundraising coach, consultant, and trainer.  I wanted to do one-on-one coaching where I could work with nonprofit organizations and ministry leaders to dig in and provide them with expertise and how to avoid the pitfalls of fundraising.  Coaching is a really big deal for me because I can see things coming from a mile away.  You can move so much quicker when you have someone else guiding your efforts.  Consulting is where I go in and dig in deep with clients.  Now, these are really large clients who are running multi-million-dollar campaigns.  And then I do training with larger groups of people.  This has consisted of in-person training days with you, your board, your volunteers, etc.  However, I find the best way for me to train is online and I’m already set up for that, so my life hasn’t really changed a lot. 

 

One of the programs I’ve been running for the last two years has been for people and organizations putting on signature fundraising events.  I made it a high price point because I wanted to make sure the people in my class were really committed.  I did not want people to show up and do it halfway.  I have a great group of students and we meet every single week.  I can’t tell you how much I’ve appreciated the time that we share together, and I know that they have utilized each other’s ideas – there’s such a synergy between all the people in the group.  I’ve seen their fundraising grow exponentially, and one thing I’ve recognized is that they are not experiencing fear during this time because they have the funds. 

 

Here’s the deal, I’m all about freedom.  The definition of freedom is to act, speak, and think without holding back.  My current students are not lacking or having any sort of scarcity around their finances.  They have the ability to focus on what really matters, which is serving their people well.  I’ve been teaching people how to put on signature fundraisers and we aren’t putting on signature fundraisers right now.  And this is part of the change I’ve had to accept.  What I needed to do and what I have done is to figure out how to make myself relevant. 

 

First, I’m cutting all of my prices!  I am opening the doors for the first time since November.  I want you to have access to me as a trainer so you’re not sitting there freaking out about how you’re going to fundraise and get through this.  You can access Fundraising Freedom Academy at www.fundraisingfreedomacademy.com.  I’m not asking you to apply or jump through any hoops.  I’m asking you to join because you need community now more than ever.  Oftentimes, people tell me that they just want to know how to fundraise, but this is actually the least exciting thing I teach because there are so many sources out there that tell you how to do it.  I find that the two most important things are the coaching and the community.  I show up every single call and want you to know you’re not alone in this.  When you’re struggling, I’m going to coach you through it.  None of us do anything great on our own.  We need each other and we need community.

 

The other thing I want you to know is that I’ve niched down. I have another program for missionaries called Fully Funded Academy.  If you are a missionary who is raising personal support, please check it out.  But if you are a ministry or a faith-based leader who is running a nonprofit organization, Fundraising Freedom Academy is for you.  It directly aligns with my book, Fundraising Freedom, and it is for organizations and focused on raising tens of thousands to hundreds of millions of dollars for your cause.  I am now allowing students to come in on a monthly basis at only $97 a month.  You can come in, steal what you want, and leave if you want.  But I’m telling you, the most important part is the community.  You can also buy-in at the annual rate, which is less than $1000, gives you two months free as well as access to a live, online training.  I also have one more option where we can do some one-on-one coaching.  Most of my coaching clients are typically with me for three months and then they are out the door!  I want to teach you how to fundraise and then let you go do it. 

 

If you’re feeling stuck and frustrated and you couldn’t afford my course in the past, this is the time to join in on one of my programs.  I’m hosting a free training this week, which I will send out in an email this week.  If you are not on my email list, make sure and go to maryvalloni.com to sign up!

 

 

Connect with Mary:

Fundraising Freedom Academy

Fully Funded Academy

Mary Valloni

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Fundraising Freedom Roadmap