What are the primary benefits of an annual giving campaign?
It enables you to expand and update your database of current contacts for giving. It helps you identify and cultivate major gift donors to provide the higher levels of support you need for your work. The third of these is vitally important and yet easily neglected. Of course, it requires staff devoted to the exercise of making the specialized contact with major gift donors that's necessary for the program to succeed. This means personal contact with a solid base of information about the donor, his or her interests, personal concerns, personality, giving to other organizations, relationship to your own board, etc. Gathering this kind of information is, in part, an extension of annual giving. Through productive phonathons, email responses and other communications that come from donors, you can construct a portion of the donor's "DNA" - donor needs assessment - in other words, what it is that makes specific donors want to support your mission. Beyond that, by overlaying wealth screening and donor segmentation through an effective donor research program, you can fill in the gaps that help pinpoint your best prospects. With this information, your major gifts staff can then develop cultivation and solicitation strategies to get to prioritize the timing of engaging prospects and donors further, and moving ahead with your plans and programming. In order to coordinate all of the pieces and bring it all together, you are likely to need assistance beyond the resources on your staff. Brian Lacyhas many year of experience and works with nationally known institutions and providers of the tools you need. Contact Brian Lacy today for more information and to get started. If you need assistance in developing your major gifts strategies for cultivation and solicitation, contact Andrew Thompson at Elusen for help with major gifts, planned giving and capital campaign strategies as your needs arise.
