Dynamite
Donor Visits:
An Interview with Joanne Singh
Part I: Getting the Appointment
Joanne Singh has more than 20 years of experience in development
including positions at Smith College and Hollins University.
She is currently the Associate Vice President for Development
at Berea College. In addition to her managerial duties, she continues
to meet individually with several donors per month.
The Woolbright Group spoke with Joanne on how to identify prospects
for visits, get appointments, and overcome ‘cold call’ fear.
WG: How do you decide who warrants a personal visit?
JS: Berea Fund gift officers focus on donors of $200 or more
in the hope of moving them up to a gift club level. They also
visit those who have been supporting Berea for many years at
more modest levels. These folks may be planned giving or bequest
prospects, and bequests can account for up to 60% of our fund
raising in a given year. We always visit single or widowed donors
with no children. We also visit children of major donors or of
loyal alumni whose children clearly benefited from their parents’ Berea
education—whether or not these children have given—in
the hope that a commitment to Berea will continue with the next
generation.
Major gift officers attempt to visit anyone determined to have
capability. Because of Berea’s history as the first coeducational
and interracial college in the south and distinctive mission
to seek and accept only students who cannot afford to pay tuition,
we acquire new non-alumni donors all the time. Our research staff
checks online resources immediately when first time donors appear
on the daily gift report. They alert gift officers when a modest
gift is coupled with promising research.
WG: What do you say when you call for an appointment?
JS: I tell donors I’m calling for two reasons: 1) to thank
them for their support of Berea’s mission and students
and 2) to let them know that I will be traveling for Berea to
their area the week of X and hope there might be a mutually convenient
time when we could meet to talk about Berea. I do not give my
title or department unless asked.
WG: Do you find that a development title is a liability when
trying to get an appointment?
JS: It could be, but of course we are always completely open
about the purpose of our visit. Our gift officers have dual titles:
major gift officer or Berea Fund gift officer and assistant to
the president. Some use “assistant to the president” when
calling. Since most solicitations, formal acknowledgments, and
stewardship reports go over our president’s signature,
a request for a visit from an “assistant to the president” carries
weight.
WG: How do you break the ice when making a so-called ‘cold
call?’
JS: When calling for an appointment, you have only a few seconds
to begin to convince the person at the end of the line that you
are someone he or she would want to invite into his or her personal
space, whether home or office. One of my very successful colleagues
attributes his success to a positive, friendly, casual manner
of conversation.
I’ve found that “Berea College” usually elicits
a positive reaction. Building some other connection in the first
few sentences also helps. If I am calling New England, I quickly
tell the person that I am a native New Englander who moved to
Kentucky only because of Berea’s mission and reputation,
and that I have found it to be everything I expected—and
much more.
Also, it is likely that the donor may recognize the name of
the officer who calls.
WG: Why is that?
JS: Building personal connections often begins before the phone
call for the visit. All gift officers review new gifts each day
and write personal notes of thanks to the donors assigned to
us and to new donors in our assigned geographic regions. In addition,
once or twice a year, usually around some “good news” at
Berea such as a positive article appearing in a national publication,
our stewardship and communication writers develop a cover letter
that gift officers can personalize and send with the particular
article or news release to any donors and prospects we choose.
So it is likely that the person being called for a visit has
heard from us once or twice before.
WG: What other forms of communication do you find helpful to
secure the appointment?
JS: We also use e-mail to set appointments, even first appointments.
I use “Greetings from Berea” as the subject line,
and introduce myself a little more completely in the body of
the e-mail. I have rarely been turned down when someone answers
my e-mail, but even a refusal by e-mail provides the opportunity
for more “conversation.” I thank the donor for responding,
provide a little more information about what’s happening
on campus, and let the donor know when I might be returning to
his or her area.
These e-mail exchanges can set the stage for future requests
for visits and provide future opportunities for communicating
happenings on campus. Some folks, especially those who are relatively
shy, are more likely to agree to a visit once they feel somewhat
acquainted with you. They might agree on the second or third
attempt. For this reason, unless the donor says “no visits,” I
indicate that I will try again on a future trip.
WG: What are the most common objections to meeting and how do
you overcome them?
JS: Most often reluctance to be visited comes from a donor’s
fear that I am 1) making the trip for the sole purpose of seeing
him or her, which puts a burden on the donor to make it “worth
my while” or 2) coming to ask for a much larger gift than
in the past. Responses vary from “I hate to have you come
all this way just to see me,” and “I’m sure
that you have other more important folks to see,” to “Let
me tell you right up front that I am not planning to increase
my gift.” My responses are 1) I’ll be in your immediate
area and would welcome a chance to thank you in person for investing
in the lives of our students, or 2) Thank you for your candor.
However, our friends are important to us, and it is the Berea
way to thank them in person whenever possible.
WG: What advice do you give development officers who find it
daunting to pick up the phone and ask a donor for an appointment?
JS: A colleague of mine says it best: “Don’t think
of the visit as inconveniencing the donor in any way; instead,
think of the visit as an opportunity for the donor to learn more
about the worthy cause they support. Your visits help provide
donors with fulfillment and a deeper connection to the cause.” In our next issue: Joanne
recounts some of her most memorable donor visits and discusses
how to make the most of personal meetings.
Interested in staff training or
coaching on donor outreach? Contact
The Woolbright Group at
info@woolbrightgroup.com or
585.787.0325.
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