Giving Tuesday - A One Day Event That Can Launch Lifelong Relationships

Today is Giving Tuesday! A day when the global philanthropic community comes together to support their favorite mission. So many nonprofit leaders like you gear up for this one-day "event" to put their best digital foot forward to engage their existing donors to give again and entice new donors to get on board.

You prepare all year. Perhaps you set a dollar goal, a donor goal.... you want to be sure that you do better than last year, right? But what are you doing AFTER Giving Tuesday?

While it is tempting to celebrate and move on to the next task, Giving Tuesday provides an amazing opportunity to launch and build lifelong relationships with wealthy donors.

Here's what you need to to do:

First, you should do a wealth screening of all your donors - especially the new ones you acquire today. Windfall is a fantastic resource for small to mid-size nonprofits. You can receive a free Wealth Analytics Report from Windfall to learn how many people in your database have net worth of $1 million or more. Knowing who your wealthy donors are is half the battle. As busy nonprofit leaders, you don't have time to personally connect with every donor. This takes all the guesswork out of it.

Once you know who your wealthy donors are be sure to personally acknowledge their gift. Now, I know you probably have an automated acknowledgement process set up for every online gift you received today - I'm not talking about that. You need to personally contact your donors who are wealthy and thank them for giving - preferably by phone. This gives you the opportunity to establish a rapport with them right away. They will truly appreciate hearing directly form you - the executive director. During that conversation, ask them for permission to follow up to set up a time to meet.

Next - you guessed it! After about a week or two, contact them and set up a time to meet over coffee. Now you are on a track to build a trusting relationship with them. Take time to learn about them. Ask them how they found out about your organization. Are they someone who has benefited from your services? Did you help someone important to them? Learn as much as you can over a series of meetings. Also, tell the story about your mission. What do you do? What problem are you solving? Who do you serve? And what impact are you making in their lives? If feasible, have them visit your organization - show them your mission in action! Establishing that trust and strengthening their interest in your organization is precisely what will inspire them to give again.

Finally, after you've learned about them and they have sufficiently learned about your organization - and you as a trusted leader, it's time to convert them from being a transactional giver into a relational donor. Perhaps they gave $50 on Giving Tuesday but you know they can do a lot more. What's the difference? YOU ARE! You are the conduit between their passion for your mission and the needs of the people you serve. Wealthy donors give big WHEN YOU ASK THEM. So be bold, be clear and be specific. If that donor has the capacity to give you $10,000 then ask for exactly that and if you follow this formula, you will get that gift.

So, don't treat today like just another fundraising event. Don't go back to business as usual. TOMORROW is the beginning of new philanthropic possibilities that can transform your organization. A $50 donor can become a $50,000 donor. You just have to begin.

If you'd like more tips like this in your inbox. Subscribe to my weekly email video series, Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach .