How to Really Honor Your Donors and How to Make the Next Ask
Pat Stansbury
Executive Director at National Foundation of Patriotism | Nonprofit Community & Corporate Partnerships | National Speaker & Author | Program & Event Coordinator
Over the past 25 years, the National Foundation of Patriotism has had hundreds of donors from our capital campaigns, to our membership drives. We’ve had an incredible history of fascinating people who support our mission to preserve the history of patriotism in America and to inspire a future full of patriotic Americans to come.
The smallest individual check we ever received was from a 94-year-old man who was in a nursing home that I spoke at. Shortly after my visit, we received a check for $4.00 from this precious patriot. His hand written note stated he never thought anyone cared about America any more. “Please accept my small donation, it's all I have. I know you’ll help America with it.”
The largest individual check we ever received from a family foundation was $1,000,000.00. This donor is a prominent businessman and has a passion for the preservation of American history as well as the promotion of citizenship.
The most interesting million-dollar donor came to us by way of a member’s long-time friendship with a rental car company owner. Our Founder, Nick Snider went to call on this incredible man in a Paul Revere costume, as requested by the member who made the introduction. Knowing the prospect’s political affiliation at the time, Nick went in crying “the Liberals are coming, the Liberals are coming!”. They had a fantastic visit and one week later, in a small hand written envelope came a hand written check for $1,000,000.00.
The most interesting sponsorship we received was from the Moon Pie company, who sponsored our Patriotism in Space exhibit.
The most heartwarming donations that always make us misty eyed come from other nonprofit organizations who, themselves need every dollar they can raise to support their causes.
The most reciprocal donations we enjoy is by way of our major events in which we invite like-minded companies and organizations to sponsor tables and donate to our silent auctions.
The most appreciated in-Kind we have received to date was from Brian Kilmeade of Fox and Friends. He waived his $25,000 honorarium to be the Key Note speaker at one of our Medal of Honor events. Brian was previously a recipient of our National Museum of Patriotism’s Patriotism Award.
We appreciate the countless others who continue their support year after year and believe in the need for patriotism in America.
As nonprofit leaders, we must always be thinking of ways to gather those much needed and all too illusive dollars. One way to ensure the funding keeps flowing is to properly and professionally show appreciation to our donors.
At the NFOP, we create greeting cards with our logo on them and use them to write hand written thank you notes following each donation. With the increase of online donations, we now send emails when we have no mailing addresses, but we do make every effort to request mailing addresses as well.
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Another way to honor your donors, when appropriate and approved, is by way of a feature in your newsletter. An approved bio and headshot make the piece more interesting and inspire people to read why you are featuring them.
Some donors wish to remain anonymous, so be sure to honor that wish. I sat horrified at an event several years ago when a nonprofit leader outed a donor who wished to remain anonymous and really embarrassed him at an event. It opened him to an avalanche of unwelcome calls for donations from others in the audience that night. That was the last donation that donor ever made to that organization and the relationship was broken.
When individuals, organizations, and companies sponsor your events, no matter how small, they deserve their name prominently displayed and a welcome and thank you from the Emcee during the event.
And finally, contact your donors at least annually. Don’t be a pest! But, do make contact. We typically request a meeting for breakfast or lunch at a restaurant convenient to them. We come prepared to discuss how their donation was implemented and what the results were. We call it the NFOP by the Numbers. Only pertinent information is necessary.
We typically mention only the following:
After that we immediately mention our upcoming needs that will grow these numbers and expand our reach. “Never leave money on the table,” a previous fundraising manager told us. Always prepare for the next ask.
Before ending the conversation about the great help their support has afforded your cause, ask for others they may know that might join them in their support in the coming year.
Be considerate of their time and interest level. When they agree to meet with you to hear about how great things are going due to their involvement, keep the conversation on them. Be professional in your appearance and your demeanor. Look like you are worth a million-dollar donation. Speak responsibly about your stewardship of the much-needed funds. You don’t have to tell them you need funding. They know that. All nonprofits need money. Talk about the needs met, the help given, the benefits afforded. Keep the conversation flowing by showing interest in them, but don’t get personal. And don’t talk about personal things you are dealing with. EVER! The more professional and comfortable you are, the more comfortable and trusting they will become, increasing your chances of getting the next donation.
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