6 key ways to ace a donor meeting
1. Focus on what you can do for them, not them for you
Donors have agendas. You job is to work out what theirs is and how it aligns with yours
2. Don't be apologetic
You are not begging; you're offering them an opportunity to achieve their aims. Aims like their philanthropic vision, driving customers to their business, augmenting their reputation, finding excellent partners to help them make the changes they want to make.
3. Listen most of the time
Your role is to offer a concise inspirational summary (3mins) of your mission to start the conversation and then direct it lightly using open questions. You want to understand all about their needs so you know what proposal to put to them.
4. Ask open exploratory questions
I would love to hear about some of your most successful NGO partnerships.
How do your existing charitable partnerships meet the needs of your business?
Can you tell me a little bit about what you see as the priorities for achieving (add cause here) fair working conditions for the working poor?
5. Know what end goal you're aiming for
Is it understanding which specialists to introduce them to within your organisation to explore a partnership? Is it knowing what project you want your Director to ask them to fund? Is it a small ‘starter’ gift in order to build a deeper relationship before they will give a transformative gift? Or are they an ‘influencer’ and what you would like is an introduction and recommendation to a high-level decision-maker?
6. Tie down next actions
There's no point leaving the meeting without clear agreed time-bound actions. Wherever possible, keep the initiative - "I'll speak to my Director, we'll think about it and get back to you" is too vague. You will be delicately chasing forever. Say "Great. Can I speak to your P.A. to schedule a catch up in a couple of weeks to hear your thoughts?"
In summary Know what you want and then focus on understanding their priorities and their perspective.
Ilana Jackman is a Fundraising Coach & Consultant to charities. She loves helping charities of all kinds to raise more funds to strive towards a better, fairer world. For more insights on resource mobilisation, check out my other blogs at https://www.ilanajackman.com/ideas-blog or email me at ilana@ilanajackman.com