Introduction:
The Tortoise Beats the Hare Every Time

There are essentially two ways to go about any endeavor — fast or slow.

The faster way always brings about immediate results. It generates activity and gets people moving. It’s very exciting! Conversely, the slower way requires patience and persistence. It’s usually better, but it’s dull and sluggish.

I’m bringing your attention to this because there’s an easy way to land meetings with high value major and legacy donor prospects, and there’s a hard way to do it. The easy way essentially works like this: Pick up the phone, make a call (or send a text or an email), and simply ask for a meeting. 

Boom! That straightforward approach will get results. Your donor prospects will either say yes or no. If you want to increase the number of yeses you get, just increase the quantity of your outreach. It’s that simple!

More outreach equals more meetings.

But you don’t just want meetings, right? Instead, you want meaningful relationships with people who can help support your cause now and for generations to come.  That’s why it’s important for you to understand the process that helps you land more meetings and grow donor lifetime value. At MarketSmart, we call it Engagement Calling, and that’s what this report is all about.

Let’s dig in!

1. Recognize that the Valley of Distrust Exists

The valley of distrust is a chasm every gift officer must cross in order to get a conversation going. It exists because, although many supporters might trust your organization, its brand, and its ability to do good on their behalf, it is highly unlikely that they will trust you upon receiving your initial outreach. You are unfamiliar, and all of us have been taught to keep away from strangers. Not to mention, unfortunately, your donors have probably been interrupted or harassed by other, poorly trained
fundraisers in the past. 

Once you gain empathy for your supporter as a result of your recognition of the existence of the valley of distrust, you must realize that you have between 3 and 20 seconds during your initial contact to bridge the chasm. This brief period of time will probably be a bit awkward and uncomfortable. But make no mistake, it’s your responsibility to find a way to help your supporter overcome their fears. It’s up to you to help them cross the chasm. 

2. Buy Into An Engagement
Calling Process

Greg Warner, CEO and Founder of MarketSmart, developed a powerful methodology he labeled engagement calling to help fundraisers cross the valley of distrust through restraint and concession. It involves a mandatory two-step calling process that is surely more arduous and time-consuming, but also undoubtedly more fair and respectful. 

With engagement calling the goal is not to set an appointment. Instead, the objective is to find a way to give to your supporter at least once (and preferably more than that) before you ask to receive anything from them in return, including a meeting. The extra effort is unquestionably
justifiable because of its mutual benefit to you and your donor. Trust will be earned and the valley of distrust will disappear. Then the appointment will be set because it is the natural next step.

Although you (or your leadership) might feel like you aren’t accomplishing much at first, it’s essential that both of you realize that patience is actually a tremendously worthwhile form of action. As Aristotle once said, “Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet.”

3. Do Your Research

Another arduous task is research. I’m not talking about traditional prospect research involving wealth screening and a review of your supporters’ past giving history. No, definitely not! The road to trust can only be paved with your understanding of your supporters’ life stories (why they care about your cause), their program interests,  how they want to find meaning in their lives, and where they reside in the consideration process. 

That information can be collected through carefully constructed donor surveys or one-to-one interviews. Of course, donor surveys are much easier and less costly to administer, so we recommend you start with a survey. As legacy gift marketing expert and lifetime achievement award winner, Phyllis Freedman always says,  “Show 'em that you know 'em!”

Full disclosure: Greg Warner invented a survey system specifically tailored for collecting this kind of information from nonprofit donors.

4. Plan to Offer Value

Now that your research has been conducted, you can use the information you
gathered to develop plans to deliver value for each supporter. Such plans initiate the law of reciprocity - a powerful influencer. When you give first to your supporters, they become exponentially more likely to give back to you and your organization. 

Relevance is key here. Your likelihood of setting an appointment increases or decreases in relation to your offer’s value. And, its value becomes enhanced or diminished in relation to its alignment or misalignment with each supporter’s
individual interests, needs, wishes, and desires. Remember, value is always in the eye of the beholder. That’s why highly relevant and personalized offers deliver more value. 

Use your research to compile a list of offers that will deliver value, and put the law of reciprocity to use. For example, if you learned from your survey that a supporter was interested in taking a tour of your hospital or campus, you might plan to offer value by providing her with an opportunity to take a tour. If, instead, she was interested in giving jewelry, you might plan to offer her a free appraisal, a worksheet, a video testimonial highlighting how another donor found joy by giving away her jewelry, or even a free report on the benefits others have experienced.

5. Practice Your Dialogue

Practicing your dialogue is the best way to ensure that you’ll have confidence throughout the engagement call. Otherwise, you’ll be more likely to flub your words and make mistakes. Therefore, I strongly recommend you prepare by thinking through what might happen during the conversation and what you might say. The best way to do this is by writing imaginary discussions. 

Start with the donor answering the phone, saying, “Hello.” Then go from there. What will you say? What might they say? Then what? How will you provide value? And, how will you ask for the appointment once you get to the second or third engagement?

6. Put Yourself in  the Right State of Mind

Telephones convey more than just your voice. They also channel your energy and
enthusiasm, or your fear and lack of confidence. Your donors will pick up on your
aura. That’s why it’s important to put yourself in the right state of mind before you
make a call. 

Be empathetic, inquisitive, and concerned. Be a customer service representative and facilitator of involvement, not a solicitor. And always remember, it’s not about what your boss wants (likely an appointment and a decision on a donation right away). Instead, it’s about what your supporter wants. Be a giver, not a taker. Even if that only means giving them an opportunity to tell you their story and why they care. 

7. Give Them Power

There’s a big difference between being direct and being pushy. While directness is
almost always effective, flexing your muscles and being pushy rarely ever works.
Instead, wise fundraisers gain trust and engender opportunities to influence their
supporters by giving away their power.  

Although it may seem counterintuitive, doing so comforts donors, making them feel more at ease and in control.

For instance, you might let them know that they can end the conversation at any time or even opt out of receiving calls.  Also, if you sense some hesitancy while setting an appointment, you might say something like, “Well, let’s just pencil it into the calendar. That way, if you decide not to go forward, you can always cancel.” 

8. Be Clear As You Ask For
Appointments, Then Shut Up!

People prefer directness because they don’t have time or interest in trying to figure
out what you want. A clear, direct request for a meeting shows that you are
conscientious and considerate. A wishy-washy request implies that you are unsure
and even insensitive. 

Then, once the request for a meeting leaves your mouth, shut up! Count to ten inside your own mind.

Don’t be compelled to interrupt your supporter’s thought process. Instead, be patient and accommodating. Let them think it through. That’s fair. Remember, it’s about them, not you. 

9. Leave Voicemails

Some people disagree, but we believe you should leave a voicemail if your
supporter doesn’t answer the phone. That’s because you probably already spent a
lot of time and exerted a lot of energy just to get to that point. Therefore, if you
conducted your research, planned to offer value, practiced your dialogue, and put
yourself in the right state of mind, why just hang up? Instead, leave a message. In
fact, try different messages to determine which works best.  

Just make sure your voicemails offer value and sound enthusiastic and friendly. Your supporters will only return your calls after they ask themselves, “What’s in it for me?” If you sound like a bore, offering nothing in return for a call back, you surely won’t get one. 

10. Count Your Failures As Successes

You’ll need to make a lot of calls, often to the same people over and over again. And, you’ll need to employ several channels, such as email or LinkedIn InMails, in order to achieve results. The time-consuming and tedious nature of the process, along with the inherent likelihood that you’ll encounter more rejections and dead ends than acceptances, can easily get you down. 

In order to keep your chin up, you must first believe deep in your heart that you are never annoying anyone. Instead, you are merely offering well-meaning people opportunities to connect with a cause they care about. Then, with that state of mind, you must count your failures as successes.

In other words, tell yourself (for instance) that you’ll probably need to make 50 calls, leave 50 voicemails, send 50 emails, and/or LinkedIn InMails in order to set 5 appointments. Then, as you go forward, you’ll want to count each rejection you encounter as a positive on the way to success. By tallying ostensible failures as successes on the way to achieving your desired outcomes, you’ll become encouraged knowing that each negative is actually bringing you closer to the positive outcome you long for - an appointment set with a donor interested in
finding meaning in their life through philanthropy. 

11. Bonus:  Leverage Referrals

You should always try to gain a referral first. Wealthy people know other wealthy people with similar interests who are likely to find joy as a result of supporting your cause. That is why gaining a referral is,  without a doubt, the best method for landing a meeting with a highly qualified major or legacy donor prospect.

A referral can help you cross the valley of distrust instantly. Plus, your referral source will likely be able to help you with your research since they know their friends well. If you have not yet tapped into your board members’ and your other major donors’ networks, put aside these top 10 tips and start with efforts to gain referrals first. 

About MarketSmart

MarketSmart is a revolutionary ‘Engagement Fundraising’ firm that combines its proprietary email marketing automation software with complimentary support services to help you be the fundraiser you always wanted to be.

Fundraisers, nonprofit leaders, and board members like you come to us when they realize their traditional fundraising efforts are no longer working. They are tired of low donor retention rates, high costs of acquisition, weak relationships with major donor prospects, operational inefficiencies, and more—all due to 'fundraising climate change.’

We help them implement our 'Engagement Fundraising System’—a powerful ‘done-for-you' software and service duo that helps fundraisers land meetings with the wealthiest and most passionate supporters when they are ready to build relationships centered around donating major gifts of assets.

Unlike big data or mysterious black box wealth screening services, our System is donor-driven. It inspires supporters to engage and explain why they care. Then it signals when they need help—so your team becomes more effective and efficient as a result of knowing when to make outreach to optimize your operations. 

Bottom line: It positions your team for success. 

Plus, there’s no risk because it comes with a 10-to-1 return on investment (ROI) guarantee.

That’s why hundreds of organizations of all sizes in every sector and on 3 continents use it.

However, we find that we can only have a dramatic effect on about 60% of the people we talk to. Honestly, MarketSmart is not a good fit for everyone. That’s why we don’t ‘sell’ to people like you. Rather, we facilitate their decision-making process through collaboration. 

We do so by providing you and your leadership with an Opportunity Analysis at no cost whatsoever. The analysis includes a deep dive into your data (something akin to what many consultants charge thousands of dollars for). 

Then we present the results to you and your team to determine whether or not your organization should strongly consider employing our System (and if it would be eligible for our 10-to-1 ROI guarantee). 

Organizations that agree to move forward often realize much more revenue than we predicted. In actual fact, some even generate 100-to-1 ROI. 

So why not consider learning more about our System today? GET A DEMO HERE